Punjab Bandh August 27: What’s Shut, What’s Open; Why Punjab Bandh — Full Details
Punjab Bandh on August 27: employees and pensioners protest over DA arrears and OPS. Check what’s shut, what’s open, and the demands behind the strike.
North Desk Correspondent
Chandigarh, August 25
Punjab Bandh: Punjab braces for its second statewide bandh in less than a week on Thursday, August 27, as government employees and pensioners intensify their protest over long-pending demands — barely six days after the Qaumi Insaaf Morcha’s bandh on August 21 over the release of Sikh prisoners.
What is the Punjab Bandh on August 27 about?
The Punjab bandh has been called by the Punjab Employees and Pensioners Joint Front along with the Punjab Joint Employees Platform, representing government teachers, health workers, power department staff, and employees across SDM offices and tehsils. Nearly 4 lakh state government, board and corporation employees are expected to go on mass casual leave, joined by roughly 3.5 lakh pensioners.
Their core demands:
Release of pending 18% dearness allowance (DA) arrears
Restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS)
Salary scales on par with Central government employees
Withdrawal of the three-year probation order for newly recruited staff
Unions allege the Bhagwant Mann government backtracked on promises made before coming to power — and specifically that despite an in-principle OPS notification issued in November 2022, no NPS employee has actually received OPS benefits three years on.
What’s likely to be affected
Punjab Bandh : Government schools and colleges, with teachers on mass leave
OPDs at government healthcare facilities (emergency wards will continue functioning)
Government offices — SDM offices, tehsils, and the electricity department
Government (sarkari) buses like Punjab Roadways Transport Corporation (PRTC)
Major protest gatherings are planned at Sector 17 and outside the Punjab Secretariat in Chandigarh, along with district-level rallies including one at Ajnala in Amritsar.
What’s open
Banks — not under state government control, so unaffected
Private buses and transport
Private offices and businesses
Emergency healthcare services
Organizers have said road blockades will be avoided, meaning general traffic movement is expected to stay largely unaffected even where offices remain shut.
Where things stand
The state government is reportedly considering an offer of 6% interest on pending DA arrears to placate protesting employees. District officials, including the Amritsar deputy commissioner, have urged union leaders to postpone the bandh — a request the unions have declined, saying they will reconsider only if their demands are met.
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