Field workers will protest against the Chief Executive Officer of the Sewerage Board by going on a 2-day hunger strike and demonstrating in Chandigarh on September 24

Field workers will protest against the Chief Executive Officer of the Sewerage Board by going on a 2-day hunger strike and demonstrating in Chandigarh on September 24

The Chief Executive Officer did not attend the meeting of the organization and as per the discussion with the Engineer-in-Chief, the organization did not take any action on the demands and raised slogans by walking out

Chandigarh 1 September ( Ranjeet Singh Dhaliwal ) : PWD Field and Workshop Workers Union Punjab General Secretary Phuman Singh Kathgarh said that regarding the protest dharna given by the employees at the Sewerage Board Chandigarh on August 18, the organization was given a meeting time by the Chief Executive Officer at Municipal Bhawan Sector 35 A on September 1, but on this occasion the meeting venue was changed to Sector 27 A Sewerage Board office, Chandigarh. At the beginning of the meeting, the Engineer-in-Chief told that the Chief Executive Officer may be late for some time, but despite waiting for one and a half to two hours, the Chief Executive Officer did not come to hold the meeting but he met his superiors at Sector 35 A. They continued to hold meetings, then when the Engineer-in-Chief did not give any concrete response during the meeting regarding the demands of the employees, the organization walked out of the meeting and raised slogans against the officials. 

During the meeting, Senior Vice President Balraj Maur, Lakhwinder Singh Khanpur Sukhchain Singh Bathinda, Kishore Chand Gaj, Pushpinder Pinki, Tar Singh Barnala Amar Singh Mansa, Rishi Kumar, Ranjit Singh Ropar, Megh Raj Ludhiana, leaders said that against this behavior of the Chief Executive Officer and the head office, the organization decided that as the next step of the struggle, a hunger strike will be held in front of the head office on 22 and 23 September and a state-level protest will be held at the head office Sewerage Board, Chandigarh on 24 September 2026. The leaders said that the Punjab government had issued a notification on 30-07-2025 regarding bringing the employees recruited before 2004 under the pension ambit. According to the notification, no action is being taken by the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board, Chandigarh and the Local Government Department, Chandigarh to bring the employees of the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board under the pension ambit. There is continuous delay in regularizing all kinds of raw, contract outsourced employees.

Employees working in the mandis are not being paid salaries for eight months each. For two years, the PF of raw contract workers and the GPF of regular employees are not being deposited, due to which the employees are suffering a huge loss. The dues of retired employees have been pending for a long time and are not being given to the employees. The head office is not releasing funds. Rajinder Singh, Manpreet Singh Jalandhar, Ishar Singh Cheema, Harpreet Singh Duggal, Gurpreet Singh, Baldev Singh Ludhiana, Rohi Ram, leaders said that they will go on a 2-day hunger strike in front of the head office, Chandigarh on September 22 and 23 against the Chief Executive Officer of Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board Chandigarh for repeatedly canceling meetings and a state-level protest will be held at Sector 27 A, Chandigarh on September 24 against the Chief Executive Officer of Sewerage Board Chandigarh.