Government employees in Punjab have refused to accept the ‘Diwali gift’ – a 3 per cent hike in dearness allowance announced by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann – and have announced a month-long protest, which will begin on November 13 and culminate on December 13, according to a report by The Tribune.
The employees will begin their sit-in protest in Sangrur from November 13 to 19, shifting their protest site from Chandigarh.
The unions have also announced protests outside the homes of all 91 AAP MLAs in their respective constituencies from December 1 to 5. During these demonstrations, they will burn effigies of the ruling party.
On December 6, the ashes of the burnt effigies will be immersed in the Budha Nullah, Joint Coordination Committee of Employee and Pensioner Unions leaders Sukhchain Khaira, and Gurnam Singh Virk told The Tribune.
The unions will hold another protest on December 13 by forming a human chain stretching from Shambhu to Amritsar.
The protest announcement comes a day after Mann announced a DA hike for around 8 lakh state government employees and called it a “Diwali gift”. The hike will become effective from November 1, 2026. With this increase, the DA rate will rise from 50% to 53%.
“It is a particularly joyful day for nearly 8 lakh employees and pensioners of Punjab. As a Diwali gift, they are getting an additional 3 per cent increase in Dearness Allowance (DA) for government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) for pensioners,” he said.
The employee unions disagreed with the Punjab chief minister, arguing that the 3% hike was not enough when a significant amount of DA was still unpaid.
The employees, who have been holding protests and meeting representatives of employee organisations for weeks, said they would continue their demonstrations until their demands were met.
“It is not a Diwali gift. Govt has announced release of 3% of DA out of what is already due to us,” Sukhchain Singh Khaira, coordinator of the Joint Action Committee of government employees and pensioners, was quoted as saying by The Times of India.
Their demands include the implementation of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), release of the remaining , payment of pending DA arrears, implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations, restoration of old pay scales and allowances, and withdrawal of policies that affect employees’ service conditions.
During a presentation to the media, Joint Coordination Committee leaders sought to counter what they called misleading claims made by the state government on issues concerning employees. Before addressing each issue, they played video clips of AAP leaders, either from before the party came to power or from its time in government.
The union leaders questioned the government’s claim that Punjab employees were receiving the highest salaries in the country. They also disputed the state government’s repeated claim that it was dealing with pending DA instalments left unpaid by previous governments.
“Only seven per cent DA was pending when the Congress lost the election. The Akali-BJP government had not left any pending DA,” Khera said, challenging the government’s account of the outstanding dues.
The leaders also alleged that the state government was presenting the payment of Sixth Pay Commission arrears as the clearance of pending DA dues. They claimed that 10 per cent DA was still outstanding and demanded its immediate release.
The unions further accused the government of going back on its promise to implement the Old Pension Scheme.
