Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann has declared the strike of the state civil services officers, revenue officials and clerical staff as “illegal” and has asked them to report to duty on Wednesday or face action.
For the last three days, more than 230 PCS officers and other officials across government departments have been protesting the arrest of PCS officer Narinder Singh Dhaliwal, who was serving as Regional Transport Authority (RTA), Ludhiana. He was arrested by the vigilance bureau in a corruption case on January 6.
In an order, the Punjab CM said, “It has been brought to my notice that some officers are not attending duty in the garb of some strike. They are protesting against strong action taken by the government against corrupt officers.”
“Let this be very clear to everyone that this government has zero tolerance to corruption. Such a strike amounts to blackmailing and arm twisting. It cannot be tolerated by any responsible government,” CM Mann said.
He directed senior officers to declare the strike as illegal and suspended all the striking government officials if they don’t join duty by 2 pm on Wednesday.
“Those who do not join by 2.00 PM, their period of absence should be treated as dies non (break in service),” the order reads.
On Monday, the PCS Officers Association went on a five-day strike alleging that the procedure laid down in the law was not followed during Dhaliwal’s arrest. They also alleged that PCS officer Tarsem Chand was “framed” in a fake case and demanded immediate action against the vigilance bureau officials involved in his arrest.
In their support, clerical staff working in offices of deputy commissioners (DC), divisional commissioners and revenue officers also announced a five-day mass casual leave till January 13. Employees of taxation and excise departments also staged a one-day leave on Tuesday.
Due to the mass strike, thousands of people, who travelled for several kilometres to get their work done in these offices, had to return to their homes empty handed.
Since taking oath the chief minister following Aam Aadmi Party’s landslide victory in Punjab in March last year, Mann has warned for strict action against corrupt government employees in his policy of “zero tolerance” towards corruption.