Jalandhar: A scheduled meeting between Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and protesting government employees in Jalandhar turned into a political confrontation on Thursday after the Chief Minister cancelled the meeting amid the unions’ call for a statewide ‘mahahartal’.
The standoff began in the morning when employees from various government departments took mass casual leave and gathered at the Deputy Commissioner’s office complex in Jalandhar. They were protesting over their long-pending Dearness Allowance (DA) instalments and demanding restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS).
Employees try to march out of DC office
A 16-member delegation of the protesting unions had been nominated to meet Chief Minister Mann, who was expected to be present at the PAP Chowk, while the remaining employees stayed at the DC office awaiting the outcome of the talks.
The meeting was expected to begin around 1 pm. However, shortly beforehand, Mann posted on social media that a strike and negotiations could not continue simultaneously, effectively making the withdrawal of the strike a condition for talks.
Union leaders strongly objected, viewing the move as a last-minute change in the terms of the scheduled meeting.
Government Teachers and Employees Union president Navpreet Singh announced that employees would block BMC Chowk indefinitely unless the Chief Minister gave their representatives an opportunity to put forward their demands.
Following the announcement, employees began raising slogans against the government and marched out of the DC office complex.
Police immediately sealed the main gates and deployed buses and riot-control vehicles to prevent the protesters from moving onto the roads. Additional riot-control units were also brought in.
The employees nevertheless climbed over the compound walls and attempted to break through other exits. Their march was eventually stopped around 50 metres from the DC office.
CM moved from PAP Chowk
As tensions escalated, Mann was quietly moved from PAP Chowk to his residence in Old Baradari to avoid a direct confrontation with the protesters.
The gathering on the road lasted around half an hour. Union leaders, including Joint Action Committee convenor Gurnam Singh Virk, were reportedly having their phones confiscated while directing the protesters.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Manpreet Dhillon later said the Chief Minister had informed the employees that the meeting had been postponed until next week.
However, the employees’ representatives were still waiting inside the PAP complex to present their demands and had refused to meet either Finance Minister Harpal Cheema or the Finance Secretary.
