Massive protest Dharna by UT and Municipal Corporation employees.

Massive protest Dharna by UT and Municipal Corporation employees.

Declaration of direct action if demands are not resolved promptly

Chandigarh 12 November ( Ranjeet Singh Dhaliwal ) : On the call of the Federation of UT Employees and Workers, Chandigarh, employees of the UTMC and other institutions held a massive protest dharna and demonstration in front of the Municipal Corporation office in Sector 17 today, November 12, 2025. The protest was chaired by Rajendra Katoch, President of the Federation of UT Employees and Workers, Chandigarh, and moderated by the Federation's General Secretary, Harkesh Chand, and Joint Secretary, Bihari Lal. A large number of unions from the corporation's Horticulture, Roads, Electrical, Public Health, MC Manimajra, Health, Kajauli Water Works, Solid Waste, Electricity, Health, Transport, Social Welfare Department, ICCW, Anganwadi, Sector 16 Hospital, and sanitation workers participated in the protest. Women employees also participated in the protest in large numbers. The main demands of the protest include: implementation of the 7th Pay Commission report and immediate payment of bonus, ACP, CGHS and all other allowances to all UT and MC employees. All daily wage, contract, outsourced and other temporary employees who have completed 10 years of service should be made permanent and the principle of equal pay for equal work should be implemented until they are confirmed. 

Daily wage workers recruited after 1996 should also be given basic pay, DA and other allowances. Outsourced employees should be brought under the department and the decision to retrench them should be cancelled. The salary already being paid to crèche workers should be restored and the dismissal of 7 crèche workers and helpers and the retirement orders of 5 crèche workers and helpers out of revenge should be cancelled. The decision to hand over the green belts and parks under the Horticulture Department to societies through MoUs should be cancelled. Employees transferred from the Electricity Department to private companies should be adjusted in other departments of the administration. Recruitment rules in all departments should be amended and vacant posts should be filled. Promotion posts should be filled up soon and temporary employees should be adjusted against direct recruitment posts, revised DC rate should be implemented on the remaining employees, the decision regarding Face App biometric attendance should be reviewed, dependents of deceased employees should be given jobs by removing the 5% ceiling, retired employees should be given pension, gratuity and other benefits soon, outsourced employees should be paid their salaries before 7th of every month, all field workers should be given uniform allowance, raincoat, gumboots and all regular and temporary employees should be given oil and soap on the lines of MOH, rules should be made for the regularization and working system of the employees working in the contact center, workers and helpers working in Anganwadis and crèches should be considered full-time workers as per their maximum working system and DC rate should be given to them.

Gopal Dutt Joshi, Chairman of the Federation and Secretary of the All India State Government Employees Federation, addressed the protest, highlighting the 19-point demands and strongly criticizing the Chandigarh Administration and Municipal Corporation authorities for their failure to implement the Pay Commission report and pay arrears and DC rate arrears. He criticized the administration and municipal authorities for their double standards in implementing the Pay Commission report and paying arrears. He stated that 18,000 regular and over 19,000 temporary employees are working in the administration and municipal corporation, but the administration is not even willing to guarantee their job security. This is a direct violation of the Constitution and the Honorable Supreme Court's decision in the Uma Devi vs. Karnataka case. He strongly demanded that all temporary employees who have completed 10 years of service be made permanent, and that the principle of equal pay for equal work be implemented until they are confirmed. The protest was led by Federation President Rajendra Katoch, General Secretary Harkesh Chand, Additional General Secretary and President of UT Powerman Union Amrik Singh, General Secretary of CMC Horticulture M.M. Subramanyam, Public Health President Harpal Singh, Vice President Sikander Sharma, MC Manimajra President Naseeb Singh, MC Electrical President Tarun Jaiswal, MC Road Secretaries Manmohan Singh and Perumal, Solid Waste President Tejmani, General Hospital Sector 16 President Ranjit Singh, Safai Karamchari President Madan Kumar, UT Powermen Union Joint Secretaries Kashmir Singh, Vinay Prasad, Varinder Singh, Harjinder Singh, Surjeet Singh, MC Horticulture Vice President Budhram, Cashier Hardeep Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Nihal Singh, ICCW's Bihali Lal and Rekha Gaura, Anganwadi Workers General Secretary Renu, Pensioner Association Senior Vice President Ram Sarup, Dhyan Singh, Vijay Singh and Bhimsen, besides fraternal organizations include CITU General Secretary Dinesh Prasad and Nagendra Kumar, Sector 32 Employees Joint Action Committee President Sukhbir Singh and Ashok Kumar, All Contact Employees President. Others also addressed the gathering.

During the protest, separate memorandums were submitted to the Chief Secretary of Chandigarh and the Municipal Corporation Commissioner. A detailed meeting was held with Special Commissioner Pradeep Kumar regarding the memorandums submitted to the Commissioner. Decisions were made to promptly release DC rate arrears and revise DC rates for electricians, horticulture supervisors, street light inspectors, and Kajauli Water Works employees, to pay salaries before the 7th, to promptly disburse all outstanding dues, including pensions, to retirees, to regularize remaining daily wage workers, to provide uniform allowances, raincoats, and gumboots to employees, to resolve the problems faced in marking attendance through biometric machines, and to issue ID cards for field workers, and assurances were given that these issues would be resolved promptly. Finally, Federation President Rajinder Katoch condemned the administration's negative attitude toward the demands and demanded the immediate reinstatement of seven crèche workers and helpers who were dismissed out of vindictiveness. He expressed his gratitude to all the employees and officials of the fraternal organizations who had come, congratulated them on the successful massive protest dharna, and warned the administration that if their stubborn stance continued instead of adopting a positive attitude towards the demands, the Federation would declare a direct struggle.