Chandigarh (Gurpreet Singh) — The Democratic Employees Federation (DMF) has turned down the Punjab Government’s announcement to raise the Dearness Allowance (DA) to 60 per cent for staff recruited after July 17, 2020. The employee union labelled the hike inadequate, asserting that the state administration has failed to honour its core commitment to reinstate historical Punjab pay scales for these workers. Addressing the media on Friday, DMF State President Jarmanjeet Singh condemned the decision as divisive and anti-employee, cautioning that government personnel across the province would resist any attempt to fragment their collective movement.
Singh recalled that ahead of the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had pledged to dismantle the Central Government salary framework introduced in December 2020 and restore the traditional state-level pay matrices for all recruits hired after July 17, 2020. He pointed out that affected staff continue to receive lower base pay pegged to the 7th Central Pay Commission, resulting in sustained financial hardship. The union leader maintained that expanding the DA alone fails to resolve the primary grievance, insisting that the restoration of standard Punjab basic pay must come first, accompanied by applicable allowances and statutory benefits.
The federation also raised allegations of systemic discrimination regarding executive compensation across the administration. Singh questioned why senior constitutional and bureaucratic functionaries, including IAS, IPS, and IFS officers, High Court judges, legislators, and cabinet ministers, receive Central-pattern entitlements, while rank-and-file public servants face disparities. He emphasized that non-gazetted and administrative staff spanning Class II, Class III, and Class IV cadres form the operational backbone of governance and merit equitable remuneration without discriminatory classification.
Reiterating the longstanding call to restore the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), Singh criticized the administration’s continued inaction despite earlier promises. He asserted that demands concerning base pay scales, pending DA instalments, and pension rights are deeply interrelated and cannot be addressed piecemeal. Vowing to intensify their agitation under the aegis of the Joint Coordination Committee, the DMF leader affirmed that both senior personnel and post-2020 recruits will sustain a unified campaign until the state implements historical pay scales, disburses outstanding financial dues, and takes concrete measures toward reinstating the OPS.
