A joint front of Punjab government employees and pensioners has announced a state-wide rally at Sangrur on 10 October 2026 over pending dearness allowance instalments and the restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). The decision was taken at a state-level meeting of the front held in the city over the weekend.
Around 200 to 250 employee and pensioner unions are expected to participate in the Sangrur rally. Front leaders named in the report include Satish Rana, Gurnam Singh Virk and Sukhchain Singh Khaira. The three accused Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann of “attempting to weaken their movement.”
The employee unions have listed a familiar set of demands. These include the release of the pending dearness allowance, the restoration of the Old Pension Scheme, regularisation of contractual employees, and minimum wages for mid-day meal workers, ASHA workers and Anganwadi staff. Punjab’s DA gap with the Centre is a longstanding grievance, with Guru Nanak Dev University’s non-teaching staff having earlier flagged that Punjab employees receive around 16% less DA compared to neighbouring states.
The Sanjha Mulazam Manch, an umbrella grouping of employee associations, has been in a running standoff with the state government over these instalments. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had cleared a 4% DA hike in December, worth around ₹144 crore a month to the state exchequer, but three instalments were then still pending. Only one of them, due since July 2023, had been announced at that stage.
The Sangrur rally will fall five days before the front’s earlier scheduled national protest in Delhi on 12 December. Whether the state moves on any of the union demands before 10 October will decide the tone of the day.
