Drug De-addiction Employees Union to go on strike from July 5 and hold a protest rally at Jalandhar on July 6.

 Drug De-addiction Employees Union to go on strike from July 5 and hold a protest rally at Jalandhar on July 6.

 

If this attitude of the AAP government continues, we will keep all the centers closed for an indefinite period - Amrik Singh District President

 

Hoshiarpur/ Daljeet Ajnoha /June 30

 Employees of Drug De-Addiction Centers and OOAT clinics in Punjab , have been working day and night like frontline soldiers to help the government make Punjab drug-free for the past 10 years. These employees were recruited on contract basis through public appointments according to the Punjab government's rules, with full and transparent process. Previous governments had given them nothing but false promises, but the contract employees of Drug De-Addiction Centers had a glimmer of hope from the 'Bhagwant Mann' government, which now seems to be fading away.

While speaking to reporters, Parminder Singh, State President of the Punjab Drug De-addiction Employees Union, said that employees in many departments in Punjab are working on very low salaries and are being exploited by the government, while the Chief Minister had promised to address the issue of employees in his election manifesto. Instead of new recruitments, the problems of old employees should be solved first. The Delhi and Haryana governments have equated the salaries of contractual employees with those of regular employees. We request the Bhagwant Mann government to implement the same role model in Punjab, and to release the pending financial allowances of the employees and regularize their services by taking them out of the contract system.

Amrik Singh, District President said that the employees of the Health Department and Drug De-Addiction Centers have defeated the Covid by working  day and night by putting their lives at risk, and are supporting the government's Drug De-Addiction Campaign. Every day 200 to 300 patients come to these Drug De-Addiction Centers to take medicine. These employees are still waiting for the reward of getting salaries equal to regular employees from the government, so that the employees can fulfill their important role with utmost honesty. In the last two years, the union has held about 20 meetings with the Health Department and the Health Minister, which have been fruitless. Contact was also made with Harpal Cheema, Chetan Singh Jaura Majra, and Dr. Gurpreet Kaur, but the employees have faced disappointment every time. It is worth mentioning that despite the 4 time written assurance of meetings by Chief Minister of Punjab, S. Bhagwant Singh Mann, not  a single meeting was held with the employees and the present government is following the footsteps of the previous governments by making false promises, the result of which government has seen in the Parliamentary Elections.

 Due to the protest of the employees of Drug De-Addiction Centers , all the Drug De-Addiction Centers of Punjab will remain close on Friday, July 5 because of Strike, and patients will not get medicine. Going to hold a Protest Rally on July 6 at Jalandhar in collaboration with our unions and burn effigies of the government. We request the government to give the employees their due rights (regularization and financial benefits) soon. Otherwise, the agitation will be intensified and the Punjab government will be responsible for it.