In October, a protest week awaits Punjab government over OPS implementation

From October 1 to October 3, a day-night sit-in protest will be held at Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwan Mann’s native district of Sangrur by the Purani Pension Prapti Front (PPPF), and hundreds of employees will march towards Ambala in Haryana against the Punjab government on October 2. On October 6, the Democratic Teachers Front (DTF), Punjab, will stage a protest rally over the OPS implementation in Sangrur.

Atinderpal Singh, state convenor, PPPF, told The Indian Express, “On October 1, employees from across the state will be reaching Sangrur and we will enter the city by marching while beating dhols (drums). This way, we will inform the residents that we will be in the city for three days and set up our protest dharna on the Sangrur-Patiala road near the private colony Dreamland where CM Bhagwant Mann has a house. On the evening of October 1, we will hold a mashaal (torch) march on the streets of Sangrur. A stage will be set up on October 2 and in the evening, big effigies of the Punjab CM, the government, and the finance minister will be burnt. October 3 will be the concluding day of this day-night protest dharna when the next programme will be announced”.

“Employees from the education, electricity, and veterinary departments etc recruited from January 1, 2004, will be part of this protest as the New Pension Scheme (NPS) has been implemented from January 1, 2004, onwards. Punjab’s AAP government had made tall promises like the implementation of OPS, but it is only on paper. So, we have no choice but to protest,” added Singh.

Earlier this month, PPPF gave show-cause notices to all Cabinet ministers of Punjab seeking replies about the reasons for the delay in the implementation of OPS.

More than two lakh government employees in Punjab are seeking the implementation of OPS. (Express Photo)

Gurbinder Singh Khaira, Majha zone convenor, PPPF, said, “Employees have been protesting for long seeking the implementation of OPS. We protested in 2022 and they made the first announcement on October 22, 2022, that OPS will be implemented soon, ahead of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls, and on November 18, 2022, they notified it ahead of the Gujarat elections. Afterwards, they slept over it. We have organised several protests as it was the promise in their poll manifesto. This three-day protest dharna is the start of an intensified struggle to get OPS implemented. So, the government shouldn’t take it lightly now”.

Meanwhile, Sanjha Mulazam and Pensioners’ Front — a flagship body of more than 50 government departments — will also hold a protest rally and march in the markets of Ambala on October 2. Jasbir Talwara, convenor of the Front, said, “Hundreds of employees will be going to Ambala on October 2 to tell the people of Haryana, what the AAP promised and what they delivered in Punjab. Our one point demand is the implementation of OPS”.

On October 6, the DTF faction led by Digvijay Pal Sharma will also stage a statewide protest rally in Sangrur. “The implementation of OPS is one point demand, apart from other ongoing demands. All the organisations struggling over the OPS implementation are on the same page and we fully support PPPF and Sanjha Mulazam and Pensioners’ Front in their protest programmes. We need to stay united to get ourselves heard”.

Employees who are already under the ambit of OPS are also supporting those protesting, said Sharma.