Punjab Government Employees Declare their Month-long Protest Plans, Calls For Immediate Withdrawal of Show-Cause Notices Issued by the AAP Government

THE PUNJAB SANJHA MULAZAM MANCH, on Sunday, August 30, 2026, announced their plans to take their protests ahead and intensify their demonstrations if the recently issued show-cause notices over the statewide ‘Maha Hartal’ are not withdrawn. The government employees were protesting against the the unaddressed issues of the government employees—ranging from payment of the pending 18% Dearness Allowances (DA), to the implementation of Old Pension Scheme (OPS) and the case for employment permanency—and staged a strike on August 27, 2026 across the state.

More than three lakh government employees, 3.5 lakh pensioners, and around 150 organizations had participated in the ‘Maha Hartal’ on Thursday, August 27. However, soon after the protest, the state Personnel Department issued a directive, asking the administrative secretaries and departmental heads to issue show-cause notices to employees who remained ‘unauthorized absent’ on August 27, and to initiate strict disciplinary action against them. 

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This directive has led to a deep political stir in the state, with the government employees organizing themselves and deciding on their future course of action.

Punjab Sanjha Mulazam Manch Committee’s Meeting and the Decisions Taken

The Punjab Sanjha Mulazam Manch Committee organized a meeting on Sunday, August 30, 2026 to decide on their future course of action. It was a three-hour meeting of the committee held in Ludhiana. The Committee gave the call to withdraw all the show-cause notices against the government employees due to their alleged ‘unauthorized absence’ on August 27—the day of the statewide strike or Maha Hartal.

The committee announced that the government must withdraw all notices by September 7, or else they would go on a mass leave on September 8, 2026. Additionally, they have also announced a two-day mass casual leave on October 21-22, 2026 if their larger demands are not met.

Following the meeting, the unions unveiled a campaign named ‘Return of the Chief Minister from Chandigarh Secretariat to Satoj Village’—symbolizing their demand to push out Bhagwant Mann from the secretariat until their demands were met.

The Sunday meeting was attended by leaders of a number of employees’ bodies. Some of the notable were Satish Rana, Sukhchain Singh Khaira, Germanjit Singh and Gurnam Singh Virk. 

Charting-Out the Future Course of Action

Alongside their immediate demand of notice withdrawals , the Committee also laid down its future course of action for the coming days. The committee is determined to continue its agitation on their key primary demands such as that of the pending DA clearance, OPS implementation and changes in employment terms among others. 

The agitations would include gheraoing (blockade) of the Aam Aadmi Party ministerial residences, formation of human chains across the state, and organization of Employees assembly—wherein they would invite all 117 MLAs as well as 13 Lok Sabha MPs of the state to clarify their stance on the issues facing the government employees. 

Speaking to Press Trust of India (PTI), the leaders of the committee informed that the gheraoing of the residences of MPs and MLAs would be held on September 12-13, followed by a human chain formation across the state. This display of protest, however, is not a symbolic one-time program, as they would gherao the remaining MPs and MLAs on September 19-20.

According to the information provided by Journalist Akashdeep Thind on his social media platform X, the protest on September 12 would be outside the residences of Harbhajan Singh ETO, Kishan Singh Rodi, Balbir Singh and Kultar Singh Sandhwan. On the next day, the protesters would gherao the Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, AAP President Aman Arora, and the other senior AAP leaders. 

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In addition to the plans for blockade and human chains, the committee also informed that a ‘Mulaazim Vidhan Sabha’ (employees assembly) would be held on September 30 in Chandigarh. In the Employees assembly, they would call upon the 117 MLAs and 13 Lok Sabha MPs of the state to clarify their stance on the issues faced by the government employees in the state. 

Furthermore, they also expressed their plans to organize a ‘maha rally’ (grand rally) in Sangrur on October 10. “A ‘Maha Rally’ will be held in Sangrur on October 10, in which thousands of employees are expected to participate" the leaders said to PTI.

In addition to these, the employees have also announced a two-day mass casual leave on October 21-22, 2026 in case their broader demands are unmet. While the issue of immediate notice withdrawal marked Punjab Sanjha Mulaazam Mancha Committee’s recent meeting, they have maintained their core demands throughout: the immediate release of the pending 18% DA, implementation of the Old pension scheme, and the regularization of the contractual employees.

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