Punjab Government Employees Stage Mass Leave Over Unpaid Allowances

Government employees in Punjab staged a mass leave on August 28, 2026, causing a complete shutdown of the State Secretariat in Chandigarh. The workers are demanding the payment of long-overdue Dearness Allowance (DA) from the state government.

Bhagwant Mann, the Chief Minister of Punjab, stated that the government is ready to listen to legitimate concerns but insisted that dialogue will only take place once the strike is called off. Kulwant Singh, President of the Punjab Civil Secretariat, accused the government of suddenly changing the venue of a scheduled meeting with the Chief Minister to prevent employees from gathering, although a team from Jalandhar did attend the session.

The Punjab Congress has backed the protest. State unit president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring condemned the Chief Minister's approach as dictatorial and autocratic, asserting that the protest is a right when demands are genuine.