Chandigarh, April 10
The Punjab government led by Bhagwant Mann, which has been delaying the pending Dearness Allowance (DA) of seven lakh employees and pensioners since January 1, 2023, is now preparing to challenge the decision in a division bench after losing the case in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. This has exposed its anti-employee face, said Vineet Joshi, State Media Head & senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (Punjab).
Joshi stated that for the first time in the state’s history, five installments of DA of employees and pensioners are pending. Dearness Allowance is the rightful entitlement of employees and increases annually with inflation, but the irony is that in Punjab it has remained pending from July 1, 2023, to July 1, 2025. By paying DA, the government is not giving any favor or gift but fulfilling the rightful dues of employees. However, by delaying these payments, the government is deceiving lakhs of employees.
Continuing, Joshi said that since 1967, DA in Punjab has been given on the central pattern. The way the government has stopped paying it now raises concerns that the Bhagwant Mann government is attempting to delink it from the central pattern. He further added that all pay commissions in Punjab have advocated that employees should receive DA as per the central pattern. The Sixth Pay Commission had also made the same recommendation, but the Punjab government has ignored all these recommendations.
While the BJP-led central government has constituted the 8th Pay Commission, the AAP government in Punjab has not even formed the 7th Pay Commission effective January 1, 2026. Joshi said that the Bharatiya Janata Party will not tolerate this anti-employee policy of the Bhagwant Mann government under any circumstances. If the government attempts to delay the process of paying the pending DA to employees till June 30, 2026, as per the High Court’s decision, an agitation will be launched against it.
