Punjab's Employees Turn on the Govt That Claimed to Have Fixed Their Pensions

Punjab employees pensioners protest hits Chandigarh as ministerial staff strike and rally during the Assembly session — DA arrears, OPS, 37 allowances, and why AAP’s own base is turning against it

North Desk Correspondent

Chandigarh, August 7

Punjab Government employees and pensioners are gathering at the Danna Mandi grounds in Sector 39 today, timed deliberately to coincide with the ongoing Punjab Assembly session — a direct message to a government that once campaigned as their own.

ALSO: Punjab Denies Jantar Mantar Link, Then Moves Bhullar

The Irony at the Heart of the Story

Punjab Employees Pensioners Protest: This isn’t a protest against a government that ignored the Old Pension Scheme. It’s a protest against the government that restored it — and then, employees say, walked away from nearly everything else it promised.

• In October 2022, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced OPS restoration as a “Diwali gift,” with Arvind Kejriwal tweeting credit and calling the old NPS system “unjust”
• Nearly four years later, unions say implementation has stalled and a long list of parallel demands remains untouched
• The employees who backed AAP’s 2022 sweep are now the ones organizing gheraos outside ministers’ homes

Punjab Employees Pensioners Protest: Who’s Behind Today’s Rally

• Organized under the banner of the Punjab Mulazam te Pensioners Sanjha Front and Sanjha Mulazam Manch Punjab
• Backed by the Punjab Pensioners Association (Finance Commissioner Secretariat) and Punjab Rajya Pensioners Maha Sangh
• Ministerial staff across departments were on a pen-down strike for two days before proceeding on mass leave to join the Chandigarh rally
• Described as one of the largest coordinated protests by state government staff in recent months

The Demand List

1. Old Pension Scheme — full, uniform implementation; unions say the option/hybrid structure and delays have diluted the 2022 promise
2. Dearness Allowance — release of six pending DA installments; a Punjab & Haryana High Court order has directed the state to clear DA arrears within 15 days
3. 37 withdrawn allowances — including rural area, border area, and travelling allowances, suspended and not restored
4. Regularisation — of contractual, outsourced, and other temporary employees, with full pay scale and benefits
5. Assured Career Progression (ACP) — restoration of the scheme
6. Probation-period pay — withdrawal of orders limiting new employees to basic pay only during their three-year probation
7. Pay revision arrears — pending dues from January 2016 to June 2021 (raised by some unions in earlier phases of the agitation)
8. Medical allowance — sought hike from ₹1,000 to ₹2,000/month, and revision of the cashless medical scheme
9. Vacant posts — demand for filling long-pending vacancies across departments

This Didn’t Start Today

The Punjab Employees Pensioners Protest rally is the latest escalation in a slow-building campaign that stretches back over a year:

• 2024–25: Protests outside the residences of ministers Harbhajan Singh ETO, Harpal Singh Cheema, Balkar Singh, and Baljit Kaur under the Old Pension Prapati Front (OPPF) banner
• Sangrur, Nov 2025: Protesters jostled with police near CM Mann’s residence; unions announced intent to oppose AAP in upcoming elections
• July 6, Jalandhar West: Rally and flag march timed to the Jalandhar West bypoll, explicitly meant to “teach a lesson” to the ruling party
• July, Faridkot: Protest outside Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan’s residence
• National alignment: Punjab unions have also joined the National Movement for Old Pension Scheme’s countrywide calendar of protest marches and hunger strikes

Why This Matters Politically

• Political analysts flag this as a genuine electoral risk for AAP heading into the next Assembly polls — government employees were a reliable AAP vote bloc in 2022
• Union leaders on record say they feel “cheated” — the party campaigned hard on OPS and now, in their telling, is trading on that credit while other commitments lapse

The Punjab Employees Pensioners Protest rally’s timing — during the Assembly session itself — is designed to maximize visibility and pressure inside the government’s own house

RELATED:

ALSO: Fact Check: Punjab Govt’s DA Defence Is What It Already Told the Court — And Lost

ALSO: Punjab Opposes DA To Its Staff, Tells HC: The 2021 Promise Was Just An ‘Endeavour’

Punjab High Court Rejects its ‘No Money’ Plea, Orders Full DA Payment by June 30

Follow North Desk on WhatsApp for the latest from Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vb7ccdxJENy2H87DBG3E