Months ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government is facing mounting protests from multiple quarters, with employee unions, contractual workers, unemployed youth and pension seekers stepping up agitations over wages, recruitment, job security and unfulfilled promises.
While employee unions have routinely agitated over wages, service conditions and recruitment, the scale of demonstrations since July 8 has made this one of the government’s most challenging phases.
Sanitation workers’ strike
The biggest challenge remains the indefinite strike by municipal Safai Sewaks and sewermen. The agitation began on July 8 across around 120 urban local bodies and spread to more than 150 civic bodies after the July 22 police lathicharge on protesting sanitation workers in Barnala.
The strike has disrupted the lifting of nearly 470 tonnes of garbage every day, leaving roads strewn with waste during the peak monsoon season.
Despite several rounds of talks, the strike continued till the filing of this report and expanded to the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation, the state’s largest civic body.
In an attempt to break the deadlock, Minister Harjot Singh Bains last week announced that the monthly salary of Safai Sewaks would be raised from Rs 14,000 to Rs 20,520 with effect from August 1, besides promising other reforms.
Power sector unrest
The government also faced a major challenge in the power sector, where more than 19,000 Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) employees remained on strike from July 21 to July 26. The agitation delayed restoration of power faults in rural and urban areas, putting AAP legislators under pressure from constituents.
AAP Punjab president Aman Arora acknowledged the impact, saying the strike had affected electricity supply to more than three crore residents.
The deadlock ended after a series of meetings between the government and employee representatives, with the government assuring them that their demands would be addressed by August 15.
Punjab State Electricity Board Employees Federation leader Gurpreet Singh Mehdodan said employees had raised 33 demands, including implementation of the Rs 35,400 pay scale, withdrawal of the July 17, 2020 order reducing employees’ pay scales, payment of the pending 18 per cent dearness allowance (DA), regular recruitment and restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS).
MGNREGA employees
The government also had to defuse another politically sensitive confrontation with MGNREGA employees, who had been on strike since June 1 demanding release of nearly five months’ pending wages and regularisation.
The agitation stalled the rollout of the Centre’s VB-GRAM-G scheme, forcing the government to postpone its launch until July 30.
The dispute escalated after the Rural Development and Panchayat Department warned employees that failure to sign fresh contracts under the new scheme by July 18 would lead to termination. The order was later withdrawn.
Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, who led negotiations, said issues relating to service conditions, contractual tenure, migration to the VB-GRAM-G framework, remuneration and administrative matters had been resolved, and that the genuine demands of nearly 2,000 employees had been accepted.
The government continues to face protests by the Berozgar Sanjha Morcha, whose members have been camping outside the Sangrur Deputy Commissioner’s office since December 25 last year. Members of the organisation regularly attempt to protest during the Chief Minister’s programmes in Sangrur and elsewhere.
Ahead of Mann’s programme on Friday, several office-bearers of the morcha were detained on Thursday. State convenor Sukhwinder Singh Dhilwan alleged that police reached his residence in Barnala district to detain him, but he was not at home.
The morcha is demanding a five-year age relaxation in recruitment, filling of vacant government posts and relaxation in eligibility criteria for Master Cadre teacher recruitment.
On July 27, employees of all 880 Aam Aadmi Clinics observed a day-long strike seeking better wages and leave benefits. Doctors, clinical assistants and pharmacists, who are paid on the basis of patient footfall, alleged they were denied weekly offs and risked termination if absent for three consecutive days.
Meanwhile, protests over alleged irregularities in pharmacist recruitment examinations have continued across the state.
Sangrur emerges as protest hub
Sangrur, the Chief Minister’s home district, has emerged as a symbolic centre of protests, with employee and youth organisations frequently assembling there. Anganwadi workers also staged a protest near the gated colony where Mann has official accommodation.
The government’s handling of protests has also come under scrutiny. Apprentice linemen seeking PSPCL jobs were lathicharged on June 5, MGNREGA workers were cane-charged in Khanna on July 15, and sanitation workers were baton-charged in Barnala on July 22.
“Action was taken only after the Barnala incident, when DSP Satvir Singh Bains and SHO Lakhwinder Singh were suspended. Otherwise, force is used against protesters almost everywhere,” a BJP leader said on condition of anonymity.
Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon alleged that the AAP government had failed to fulfil the promises it made before coming to power.
“Those demanding their legitimate rights are facing lathi-charge. Punjab has been reduced to a dharna land,” he said.
Dhilwan said many of the agitations stemmed from unfulfilled electoral promises.
“The AAP made many promises before the 2022 elections, but could not fulfil most of them. People had high expectations, so these protests were expected,” he said.
A PSPCL employee summed up the prevailing sentiment: “It is election year. Protests are bound to happen. Employees hope at least some of their demands will now be accepted.”
Sanitation workers hold a protest in Jalandhar. 
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