Chandigarh: Operations at 544 Sewa Kendras across Punjab came to a standstill on Thursday afternoon as employees launched a strike to protest against what they described as excessive and unfair penalties imposed for service-related errors.
Jaswinder Singh Gill, state president of the Sewa Kendra Employees Union, alleged that operators were being penalised for minor errors and technical issues involving Aadhaar cards and other citizen services. He said the penalties had pushed employees into financial difficulties.
Leading the protest, district president Jaswinder Saini claimed that penalties ranging from ₹1 lakh to ₹1.5 lakh were being imposed on Sewa Kendra operators without a fair process. He said the financial burden was making it increasingly difficult for operators to continue running the centres.
Gill said the union had repeatedly raised its concerns with the Punjab government, the Department of Governance Reforms (DGR) and the companies concerned, but its demands had allegedly been ignored.
The union was scheduled to hold a state-level meeting on Thursday evening to discuss its next course of action.
Protesting operators warned that the strike would continue until chief minister Bhagwant Mann intervened, reviewed the penalty system and provided relief. They demanded an immediate halt to the alleged arbitrary penalties, cancellation of previous fines and a permanent resolution of their grievances.
