Punjab Govt Orders Show-Cause Notices To Employees After August 27 Strike

The Punjab government has directed administrative secretaries and heads of departments to issue show-cause notices to employees who remained absent from duty without authorisation during the August 27 strike. The move has intensified the standoff between the Aam Aadmi Party-led government and employee unions, with nearly four lakh government employees participating in the mass casual leave protest.

According to the government’s directions, employees found to have been “unauthorisedly absent” during the strike will be asked to explain why disciplinary action should not be initiated against them for proceeding on unauthorised leave. Departments have been instructed to examine the responses and take further action against employees who were absent without prior permission or approval.

Employee organisations have criticised the government’s decision, viewing the notices as pressure tactics that could further escalate the dispute. Sukhchain Khera, convener of the Sanjha Mulazim Manch, argued that disciplinary action against employees could not be pursued while the government was simultaneously communicating its willingness to address demands related to dearness allowance and pending arrears.

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The unions are scheduled to meet on Sunday to decide their next course of action. The show-cause notices are expected to be a key issue during the deliberations, as employee leaders consider whether to intensify their agitation. The confrontation comes less than six months before the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections, adding political significance to the dispute.

The employee unions have also approached Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria, seeking action against Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann over his alleged absence from a meeting with employee representatives on August 27. The unions have additionally demanded that one day’s salary of the Chief Minister be deducted. In their representation, they alleged negligence of official responsibilities, administrative arbitrariness and wasteful expenditure of public funds.

The meeting had reportedly been scheduled at the PAP Ground in Jalandhar to discuss the employees’ long-pending demands, following an official communication issued on August 8. The unions maintain that Mann did not attend the meeting and that they were not given prior information or a substantive explanation for his absence. The August 27 mass casual leave was organised by the Joint Action Committee of Employees and Pensioners and other employee organisations over demands including release of pending DA, restoration of the Old Pension Scheme and resolution of other service-related issues.

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