Bathinda, August 23 The Contractual Employees’ Sangharsh Morcha on Friday staged a protest at Children’s Park and later carried out a march till the District Administrative Complex and burnt an effigy of the state government. Notably, the union members consisting workers from four different departments were demanding the implementation of Punjab Ad hoc, Contractual, Daily Wages, Temporary, Work Charged and Outsourced Employees Welfare Act, 2016. Employees from Powercom Department, 108 Ambulance Service, MGNREGA, Water Supply and Sanitation, master motivator, health department and Thermal Plant Lehra Mohabbat participated in the protest on Friday. The protesting union members raised slogans against the state government for allegedly failing to fulfil their genuine demands at Children’s Park and later carried out a protest march till the District Administrative Complex. They also blocked the road partly for some time. After reaching there, the protesters raised slogans before burning the effigy of the state government. Earlier, the union members conducted a meeting at Children’s park. Gurvinder Singh Pannu, president of the union, said, “Citing one reason or the other, the state government has not implemented the Punjab Ad Hoc, Contractual, Daily Wages, Temporary, Work Charged and Outsourced Employees’ Welfare Act, 2016, till now. Workers from different departments have been rendering their services for the past many years. We also demand that ‘equal work equal pay’ principle must be implemented by the state government.” “On August 14, members of the union took out a protest march in Jalandhar and had given a call for holding a protest on Independence Day as well. But later the administration assured them that a meeting would be held at the residence of Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on August 20 to resolve the issue. But the meeting was not organised later. On August 25, a state-level meeting would be held in Patiala wherein the future course of action with regard to the agitation would be taken,” added Pannu. Now members of the union have been conducting a protest march and burning effigies of the state government to express their resentment over the latter’s indifferent approach.

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