Chandigarh: Ending a three-week standoff with state employees, the Punjab government on Friday agreed to release two installments of dearness allowance (DA) of 4% each. The combined 8% DA, backdated to July 2023, will be disbursed on October 1 alongside the September salary.
The breakthrough came during an hour-long meeting between chief minister Bhagwant Mann, cabinet ministers Aman Arora and Baljit Kaur, and 12 representatives of the Sanjha Mulazim Manch (Joint Employees Forum).
Speaking after the meeting, Arora said the payout would add a ₹231 crore burden to the state exchequer.
Gurnam Singh Virk, the convener of the Sanjha Mulazim Manch, said the chief minister had agreed to a follow-up meeting in the first week of October to discuss remaining demands. However, Virk emphasised that ongoing court proceedings regarding older DA arrears and salary discrepancies would continue unaffected.
The state government had previously challenged an August 3 Punjab and Haryana high court order directing it to clear pending DA backdated to 2016 within 15 days or face an 18% annual interest penalty. The matter remains pending before the Supreme Court.
Friday’s agreement resolved a deadlock that escalated after an August 27 meeting in Jalandhar was canceled when Mann demanded employees end their protests before talks. In response, union members declared mass casual leave on September 8 and threatened to hold a mock Vidhan Sabha session on September 30, followed by blockades outside ministers’ residences in October.
Satish Rana, representing pensioners within the forum, confirmed that the government had also agreed to withdraw disciplinary notices issued on August 27 and September 8 against absent employees.
Sukhchain Singh Khehra, head of the Civil Secretariat Employees Union, said that staff accepted the government’s immediate offer while keeping avenues open for future negotiations. The forum rejected a government request to file an affidavit in the high court claiming all disputes had been settled.