Patiala, March 27:- Due to the Punjab Government withdrawing the budget for salaries and pending dues of temporary workers working in the Forest Department, unrest and anger are being seen among the workers. The workers are deeply worried about managing household expenses and securing admissions for their children.
As a result, today forest workers, under the leadership of District President Jaswinder Singh Soja and General Secretary Jagtar Singh, staged a protest sit-in in front of the District Forest Officer’s office against the Punjab Government. After the protest, they carried out a protest march and submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner Patiala. They demanded that the withdrawn budget for salaries and pending dues of temporary workers working in the Forest Department and Wildlife Department should be released immediately, and the pending salaries and dues of the workers should be cleared without delay.
They further demanded that temporary workers should be regularized without conditions, a seniority list of temporary workers should be prepared, and all facilities due to them as per rules should be provided. The organization received strong support during the protest when a large number of workers left other organizations and joined the Forest Worker Union Punjab during the ongoing protest. The organization welcomed the newly joined workers.
Addressing the protest, state leader of Punjab Subordinate Services Federation Darshan Singh Belu Majra, District President Lakhwinder Singh Khanpur, Jasveer Singh Khokhar, Sukhbir Singh Dheedansa, Dharampal Late, Bant Ram, Bhupinder Singh Sadhoheri, Ser Singh Sirhind, Bhinder Singh Ghagga, Naresh Singh, Amarjit Singh, Vipin Prasad, Harjinder Singh and other leaders strongly condemned the Punjab Government’s decision to withdraw the salary budget and thanked the workers who joined the organization.
Among others present in today’s protest were Davinder Singh Chaudhri Majra, Balkar Bathoi, Bhupinder Rauni, Gurmukh Singh Sirhind, Baljit Singh Dhamo Majra, Pala Gurdiyal Pura, Hakham Khan, Jagtar Sudhewal, Gogi Lang, Kuldeep Kaur, Paramjit Kaur, Jaspal Kaur, Amarjit Kaur, and others.