Chandigarh, August 29:Punjab Bharatiya Janata Party State President Kewal Singh Dhillon strongly condemned the Punjab Government’s decision to issue ‘show-cause notices’ to lakhs of employees who took collective leave in support of their demands. He said that in an attempt to hide its failures and financial mismanagement, the ‘AAP’ government has now resorted to attacking the rights of employees as well as threatening them.

Dhillon said that issuing ‘show-cause notices’ to employees who took leave as per the rules to raise their legitimate demands and rights before the government is highly condemnable. He said that in a democracy, the government’s responsibility is to listen to the voice of its employees and resolve their legitimate demands, rather than suppressing their voice through notices and threats.

He said these are the same leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party who, before coming to power, used to participate in employees’ protests and make tall promises in support of their demands. From Arvind Kejriwal to the present Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, these leaders used the struggles of employees as a political ladder, but after coming to power, the same employees have now started appearing to them as a burden and a challenge to their government.

Dhillon said that employees are the backbone of any government. Government administration, education, healthcare, governance and public services function because of their hard work. In such a situation, the government’s arrogant and threatening attitude towards employees is not only condemnable but also exposes its dictatorial mindset.

Dhillon said that the demands of the employees are legitimate and the government should abandon the path of confrontation and resolve them immediately through dialogue. He said that the voice of employees cannot be suppressed by issuing notices or through intimidation and threats.

He said that, on the other hand, the BJP-led Central Government and governments in other states are providing DA to their employees on time, while Punjab’s employees are being deprived of their rightful dues. The Punjab Government must explain why there is no money for employees’ legitimate rights when the government is spending crores of rupees on its publicity campaigns and other unnecessary expenditures.

He said that Punjab BJP stands firmly with employees in their fight for their rights. Instead of intimidating employees, the government should accept their demands and provide them with DA, arrears and other legitimate dues on time.

Kewal Singh Dhillon appealed to the employees to support the Bharatiya Janata Party in building an employee-friendly and accountable government in Punjab, so that government employees and pensioners receive their legitimate dues on time and are not forced to take to the streets to fight for their rights.