Bureaucracy Puts Brakes on the Assurances of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Finance Minister Harpal Cheema

Bureaucracy Puts Brakes on the Assurances of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Finance Minister Harpal Cheema

After 10 months of repeated assurances and nearly 20 meetings with the Finance Minister, employees are still facing a massive salary reduction of ₹31,000 per month — raising serious questions about the government’s commitment to its promises and the welfare of its employees.

Despite the Central Government providing full funding for salaries, the State Government appears determined to continue the exploitation of employees

For the last 10 months, the Finance Minister has repeatedly assured employees that their salaries would not be reduced, while the Education Secretary has outright refused to resolve the issue

If employees’ issues are not resolved in the meeting with Finance Minister Harpal Cheema on June 23, a major agitation will be launched at the Chief Minister’s residence in Sangrur.

S.A.S.Nagar 18 June ( Ranjeet Singh nDhaliwal ) : The repeated assurances given by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema to employees over the past ten months have effectively been stalled by the state bureaucracy, which is also disregarding the directions of the Hon’ble Court. During the past ten months, more than ten meetings have been held with Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, and on each meeting he assured employees that no reduction in anyone’s salary would be allowed. However, despite these assurances, during the meeting held yesterday with the Secretary, School Education, Punjab, employees were given a categorical refusal regarding any relief on their demands. This has created deep disappointment and anger among employees, who are now questioning whether the Chief Minister and Finance Minister hold real authority or whether the state bureaucracy is running the government.

The ground reality is that employees who have been serving for the last 15 years have had their salaries reduced from ₹50,000 to merely ₹19,000 per month. A sudden salary cut of ₹31,000 per month has shattered the financial backbone of thousands of families.

A serious question therefore arises: if the assurances given by the Finance Minister had no value, why were they given in the first place? Has the Punjab Government become completely helpless before the bureaucracy, or was this a pre-planned political deception from the beginning? The bureaucracy has effectively locked the door on resolving employees’ issues, and it appears that the government neither has the will nor the courage to unlock it. A government that came to power promising change has failed to provide employees anything beyond assurances, promises, and delays.

While issuing the press statement, leaders of the Joint Action Committee, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan–Mid-Day Meal Office Employees Union Punjab, including Kuldeep Singh, Gurmeet Singh Bhundar, Rajinder Singh Sandha, Jagmohan Singh, Jagseer Singh, Chamkaur Singh, Vikas Kumar, Aman Thapar, Janak Singh, Jaival Jain, Baljinder Singh, and Varun Jain, stated that a meeting with Finance Minister Harpal Cheema is scheduled for June 23. They said that if this meeting does not provide a concrete, written, and time-bound solution regarding the regularization orders effective from 01.04.2018 and the issue of salary cuts, a major agitation will be announced . The Punjab Government will bear full responsibility for any such protest movement. The leaders further stated that employees will no longer tolerate broken promises, false assurances, and betrayal. They are prepared to make every sacrifice necessary to protect their rights, livelihood, and dignity.