Chandigarh: A day after the ‘Maha Hartal’ by Punjab govt employees prompted the personnel department to seek details of staff on “unauthorised absence”, departments have started submitting their responses, with some clarifying that employees who did not attend work had formally availed leave.The department of employment generation and skill development, for instance, informed the personnel department that its attendance records did not show any unauthorised absence. It stated that all employees who were not present had “availed leave.”Punjab civil secretariat employees union general secretary Sahil Sharma said no disciplinary action should be initiated against protesting employees. According to him, staff members had applied for leave on Thursday, reported to their workplaces and later joined the strike.“The unions have assured employees that they need not fear any govt action. We are fighting for a just cause to secure pending dues, including dearness allowance,” Sharma said.He added that the Directorate of School Education (Secondary) had also informed the govt that no employee in the department was found absent without authorisation.Meanwhile, protesting employees at the civil secretariat on Friday tore copies of chief minister Bhagwant Mann’s social media post announcing the cancellation of his meeting with employees’ unions, as well as the personnel department’s communication seeking details of absentee staff.Attention is now focused on the joint action committee meeting of employees’ unions scheduled in Ludhiana on Sunday, where leaders are expected to decide their next course of action.On Thursday, the personnel department issued a letter titled “Action regarding unauthorised absence of employees on duty”, stating that complaints had been received from members of the public about inconvenience caused by officials not being present in govt offices.The letter directed all administrative secretaries and heads of departments to compile and submit lists of such employees the same day for necessary action under applicable service rules.The protesting employees are particularly upset because nearly an hour before his scheduled meeting with union representatives in Jalandhar on Thursday, Mann posted on X: “Employees are an important part of our family, and we are ready to listen to every legitimate concern of theirs. But dialogue and strikes cannot proceed together… The govt is committed to resolving every issue, but dialogue will only take place once the strike is called off...”
