Panjab Govt. Employees Corner AAP over DA Dues

August

2026

More than 50K government employees and pensioners held a massive protest at Sector 39, Chandigarh on 7 Aug to press their demands to the Aam Aadmi Party government in Panjab, including release of pending Dearness Allowance (DA). Chandigarh Police used water cannons to disperse protesting employees when they tried to head towards the Panjab Assembly. The protest was held under the banner of Sanjha Mulazam (Joint Employees) and Pensioners Front and Sanjha Mulazam Manch (Joint Employees Front) Punjab with several employees’ organizations joining in. The protesting employees have been demanding release of pending 18% DA, implementation of the Old Pension Scheme and regularization of contractual employees. On 3 Aug, the Punjab and Haryana High Court (PHHC) had ordered the Panjab government to clear the pending DA arrears for 750K employees and pensioners within 15 days. PHHC dismissed appeals by the Panjab government and the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), and directed them to stop ‘unproductive expenditures’ like advertisement campaigns, and clear DA dues, adding that defaulting on the timeline will levy an interest of 6% per annum on the unpaid amounts from the due date. On 4 Aug, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said the state is considering legal options, including appealing to the Supreme Court of India as ‘certain constitutional benchmarks and judicial precedents appeared to have been overlooked in the court order’. He added, ‘The government is surprised by the order as the state is already following a PHHC-approved liquidation plan to clear dues amounting to USD 1.5B.’ The order, if implemented, will cost the state exchequer USD 2.4B. Cheema further added that the Panjab government was paying some of the highest pay scales in the country, surpassing even the union government in several categories. However, in Amritsar, the Democratic Teachers Front (DTF) and other organizations also cornered the government over 37 suspended allowances. DTF district general secretary Gurbinder Singh Khahira said, ‘Honorarium, raw, contract, and outsourced employees are being exploited to such an extent that they are not paid a livable minimum wage. Even low wages are not being received on time.’ Meanwhile, in Ludhiana, Community Health Officers have intensified their agitation against the state government’s failure to fulfill their demand for a USD 53 per month salary hike. They have scheduled a protest for 10 Aug in Chandigarh (earlier coverage).