Chandigarh: The Punjab Pay Scales, Old Pension and Allowances Restoration Front on Sunday launched a sharp attack on the state govt, accusing it of trying to divide employees in the name of dearness allowance (DA) instead of addressing their long-pending demands relating to pay scales, pension and allowances.Addressing a joint news conference, the Restoration Front representatives, including Gurdeep Singh Bassi, Vikram Dev Singh, Shalinder Kamboj and Sandeep Singh Gill, said govt’s latest DA proposal was not acceptable as a substitute for their “genuine” demands.The employees’ body said govt should stop dividing employees into “old” and “new” categories and instead ensure “equal DA, equal pay scales and equal pension rights” for all Punjab govt employees.They rejected govt’s contention that Punjab employees were drawing disproportionately high salaries, terming the narrative “misleading”, and pointed to wide pay disparities among different employee categories.The Restoration Front particularly highlighted the “huge and unjustified gap” between employees recruited before and after July 17, 2020. It stated that Punjab clerks recruited after the cut-off date were drawing a basic pay of Rs 19,900, compared to Rs 29,200 under the corresponding Central govt scale and Rs 33,300 for employees recruited in Punjab before July 17, 2020.Similar disparities, the representatives claimed, existed in the case of police constables, assistant linesmen, MPHW workers and teachers. They said even after adding 60% DA, employees recruited under the post-July 2020 system continued to draw substantially less than their counterparts.“This is not a question of giving employees an additional benefit; it is a question of restoring an equitable and uniform pay structure,” they said.The Restoration Front demanded withdrawal of the July 17, 2020 notification and restoration of Punjab pay scales for employees recruited thereafter.Regarding the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), the Restoration Front representatives alleged that despite govt issuing a notification on Nov 18, 2022, the standard operating procedure required for its effective implementation had not been made public. They demanded implementation of the scheme “in letter and spirit”.The employees’ front also sought regularisation of contractual and temporary employees, including computer teachers under PICTES, special cadre teachers, meritorious school teachers and NSQF employees, along with full pay scales and service benefits.It further demanded release of the pending 18% DA and restoration of withdrawn allowances.The employees’ body also said it would extend an “unconditional and active support” to protest programmes announced by the Joint Coordination Committee of employees and pensioners, including the proposed gherao of ministers.
