Punjab Employees and Pensioners Joint Front to hold district-level meeting in Faridkot today; protest letter sent to Chief Minister; warning issued regarding protests at the residences of the MLA and the Speaker…
Faridkot, June 19 (Alexander D’Souza): Responding to a call from the state committee, the Faridkot district unit of the Punjab Employees and Pensioners Joint Front has launched a protest against the government’s anti-employee and anti-pensioner policies. Today, leaders of the Front submitted a protest letter addressed to the Chief Minister of Punjab to the Faridkot Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Mr. Puneet Sharma, at the local Mini Secretariat. The official assured them that the letter would be promptly forwarded to the Punjab government. Major convention tomorrow; announcement of intense struggle expected: Key leaders of the Front—including Prem Chawla, Inderjit Singh Kheeva, Virinderjit Singh Puri, Navpreet Singh, and Balkar Singh Sahota—stated that, as part of the planned course of action, a district-level convention is scheduled for tomorrow, June 20, at 11:00 AM at Mahatma Gandhi Senior Secondary School, Faridkot. The leaders warned that dates for laying siege to the residences of the district’s AAP MLAs and the Speaker would be announced during this convention; these include the homes of Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan (Sandhwan village), Faridkot constituency MLA Gurditt Singh Sekhon, and Jaito constituency MLA Amolak Singh. Protest demonstrations will be held outside these leaders’ residences, and a decision will be taken to teach the government a lesson in the upcoming elections. Key issues and demands of employees and pensioners: The protest letter demands that the Chief Minister immediately hold a panel meeting with the leadership of the Joint Front to resolve the following issues:
Serial No. Details of main demands:-
1. Six pending installments of Dearness Allowance (DA), totaling 18 percent, should be released immediately.
2. The 2.59 multiplication factor for pensioners should be implemented immediately.
3. The Old Pension Scheme (OPS) should be restored immediately.
4. All temporary and contractual employees should be regularized with full salary and allowances.
5. ASHA workers, Mid-Day Meal workers, and Anganwadi workers/helpers should be recognized as government employees and provided with full-time employment.
6. Court verdicts delivered in favor of employees should be implemented immediately.
Leaders present:
Prominent among those present on the occasion were Inderjit Singh Gill, Simarjit Singh Brar, Jagtar Singh Gill, Kulwant Singh Chani, Sukhmander Singh Gill, and Harpal Singh Machaki. News: 19-3,
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