Chandigarh, June 5: Administrative officers from the Personnel and Finance departments have been ordered to implement a fast-track system for employee grievance redressal across all Punjab state branches. Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema issued these instructions during a series of meetings on Thursday aimed at addressing long-standing union demands.
The state administration is actively moving forward with its policy to transition outsourced staff into contractual roles and regularise existing contractual workers. Cheema met with six separate delegations to establish an immediate timeline for these structural changes.
“All concerned departments should expedite their procedures and address the genuine demands of employees in a fast-track mode,” Cheema affirmed, indicating that bureaucratic delays would not be tolerated.
The discussions focused on creating a sustainable framework for employee benefits, with the minister assuring union representatives that legitimate concerns would be handled via the Cabinet Sub-Committee on employee issues.
“The Punjab Government led by CM Bhagwant Singh Mann has already announced its decision to regularise contractual employees and convert outsourced workers to contractual status, and the implementation process is currently underway,” Cheema maintained.
The comprehensive meetings involved extensive dialogue with multiple transport and educational unions. Representatives who detailed their issues included Harminder Singh and Lakhwinder Singh from the Punjab Roadways PUNBUS State Transport Worker Union, and Resham Singh, Shamsher Singh, Balwinder Singh, Baljit Singh and Rajesh Kumar from the joint Punjab Roadways, PUNBUS, and PRTC Contract Workers Union.
The contract instructor and school staff perspective was put forward by Kirandeep Singh Rupana, Simranjit Singh and Sawaran Singh of the All Punjab DST/CTS Contract Instructor Union, as well as Gurmeet Singh Madnipur, Sharanjit Singh Kadimajra, and Hardeep Singh Dhindsa from the Punjab Raj Sarkari Sahayata Prapt School Adhyapak ate Hor Karmchari Union.
The talks concluded with presentations from Jasvir Singh Galoti, Suhubhdeep Kaur, Minu Bala and Manmohan Singh representing the Adarsh School Teaching and Non-Teaching Malazam Union, and Varinder Singh Momi, Jagroop Singh, Sher Singh Khanna, Gurwinder Singh Pannu and Pawandeep Singh from the Theka Mulazam Sangharsh Morcha.
