SAS Nagar, July 5- Veterinary officers working in the Animal Husbandry Department of Punjab have again announced a struggle. The organization has given a 10-day ultimatum to the government, stating that if their demands are not met, then all the veterinary doctors of Punjab will be forced to take to the streets against the government.
This decision was taken in a meeting organized by the State Committee of Joint Action for Pay Parity through video conference. Speaking at the meeting, the convener of the Sangharsh Committee, Dr. Gurcharan Singh said that veterinary officers had got pay parity with medical officers as per the decision of the Honorable Punjab and Haryana High Court, for which the organization repeatedly submitted demand letters at the level of the state government to get it restored.
During this period, demand letters have been repeatedly given to former ministers of Animal Husbandry Department, S. Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, S. Laljit Singh Bhullar and current minister S. Gurmeet Singh Khuddian. Several meetings have been held with the minister of the department and two meetings have also been held with the cabinet sub-committee of the government, but so far nothing has been done beyond promises. Fed up with this, the veterinary officers have again announced a struggle against the government. Under this, the organization has also started boycotting the Surbhi Suraksha Yojana of the central government.
He said that officers and employees are being harassed by the higher officials to fill piles of files with data, and those who do not obey are being entangled through charge sheets or suspensions, while the condition of the people at the ground level is very bad. 
Committee co-conveners Dr. Puneet Malhotra, Dr. Abdul Majeed and committee spokesperson Dr. Gurinder Singh Walia said that if the government does not restore pay parity by July 13, the entire veterinary doctor community will be forced to take to the streets.
It is noteworthy that the entry pay of Veterinary Officers was reduced by the previous Government under the pretext of Sixth Pay Commission and the 40-year old pay parity with Medical Officers was broken.