Sewa Kendra Employees Warns of Punjab-Wide Agitation from September 15TNNLudhiana: The Sewa Kendra Employees’ Union Punjab has warned of launching a statewide agitation from Sept 15 if the state govt fails to take immediate action on its long-pending demands.Satnam Singh, district president of the union, said that union members also met with labour department officials in Mohali and submitted their grievances.They said despite meetings held earlier with Punjab minister Aman Arora, no meaningful outcome had emerged. They also alleged that the continued delay in addressing their demands had led to resentment among sewa kendra employees across the state.The union announced that the first phase of the proposed agitation would include a protest march in Mohali from Sept 15.The sewa kendra employees had carried out state-wide protest over low salaries, lack of increments, job insecurity and regularisation in May-June. During the agitation, employees had said many workers had been receiving salaries of around Rs 10,000- Rs 11,000 a month despite working for several years. They had complained that their salaries had seen little increase over nearly a decade, despite rising living costs.In a subsequent meeting after the earlier agitation, the union had reiterated demands for bringing sewa kendra employees directly under the department instead of private companies, implementing an appropriate minimum wage grade, and providing benefits for holidays and additional duties.The union leaders said if the present demands were not addressed, the Punjab-wide agitation would be intensified. They also held the labour department and the Punjab govt responsible for any inconvenience caused to the public due to the proposed protest.
