Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. , Photo Credit: RV Murthy
The Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab government and the striking Punjab Civil Services (PCS) and revenue officers in the state are locked in a face-off after Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on January 11 directed the Chief Secretary to declare their protest as ‘illegal’. ,
Several Punjab civil service officers across the state have gone on mass casual leave for five days from January 9 in protest against the “illegal” arrest of a colleague in Ludhiana by the State Vigilance Bureau, without following standard procedures. The decision to go on mass leave was taken by the Punjab Civil Services Officers’ Association in a meeting on January 8.
Work in several government offices was adversely affected after revenue officials and clerical staff also came out in support of the strike by Punjab Civil Services (PCS) officers. The Punjab Revenue Officers’ Association (PROA) also supported and joined the PCS officers’ protest.
“It has been brought to my notice that some officers are not reporting for duty under the guise of some strike. They are protesting against the strong action taken by the government against corrupt officials. It should be made clear that this government has zero tolerance towards corruption and such strike amounts to blackmailing and hand twisting. This cannot be tolerated by any responsible government,” said the order tweeted by the chief minister.
In the order, Chief Secretary VK Janjua has been directed to declare the strike illegal and suspend all officers who do not join duty by 2 pm on Wednesday (January 11).
The Vigilance Bureau last week arrested PCS officer Narinder Singh Dhaliwal, who was posted as Regional Transport Authority (RTA) in Ludhiana, on charges of allegedly running an organized crime to collect money as bribe from transporters. in. The PCS Officers’ Association passed a resolution in its meeting stating that “the PCS officer has been arrested illegally, wrongfully and arbitrarily and without due process.” In the meeting, it was decided that all PCS officers of the state would go on mass casual leave for the coming week starting from January 9.