Mohali govt employees' strike sees strong participation

The strike by the Joint Employees and Pensioners Forum over the payment of dearness allowance (DA) and other demands received a strong response in Mohali, with employees of several government departments participating and staging protests against the state government. Employees took out rallies and raised slogans against the Punjab Government. Official work was hampered at the District Administrative Complex (DAC), Sector 76, as visitors had no clarity about when their work would be completed. Most visitors complained that they were made to wait for hours but were later turned away. At a rally organised by the Joint Coordination Committee of Powercom, Mohali circle, leaders strongly condemned Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema for allegedly calling employees anti-national. Gurbaksh Singh, circle president, along with Jaspal Singh, Gurmeet Singh, Jatinder Singh and others, accused the PSPCL management of failing to fulfil their demands. A protest rally was held by employees of the Agriculture Department and related offices in Phase 6. Kartar Singh Pal, Inderjit Singh and Harvinder Kaur addressed the gathering and demanded that their rights be fulfilled. Employees of the Civil Surgeon's Office, Mohali, also staged a protest against the Punjab Government and raised slogans outside the office in support of their demands. Employees of the Punjab School Education Board also went on strike, with union leaders sitting on a hunger strike from morning till evening on the office premises and raising slogans against the government. General secretary Paramjit Singh Benipal and senior vice-president Gurcharan Singh Tarmala demanded immediate payment of DA by the Punjab Government as per the directions of the High Court. Several employees of different departments at the DAC also joined the strike and raised slogans against the government.