Big Breaking: Deadlock Ends Between CM Mann and Employees; Punjab Employees to Get 50% DA
Employees’ Leaders and Aman Arora Address Joint Press Conference
Prabh Sidhu / Ravi Jkhau /Babushahi Network
Chandigarh, September 18, 2026: The deadlock between the Punjab Government and protesting employees appears to have ended, with an agreement reached between Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and representatives of the employees over their demands, including the issue of Dearness Allowance (DA).
The representatives of the Joint Employees Action Committee held a meeting with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to discuss their demands. Both sides described the meeting as having been held in a cordial atmosphere and said it marked the first step towards resolving the issues and accepting the employees’ demands.
As part of the understanding reached, the Punjab Government has agreed to increase DA for government employees and pensioners from the existing 42% to 50%.
Addressing a joint press conference along with employee leaders, Cabinet Minister and AAP Punjab president Aman Arora said Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann discussed the entire issue with the employees’ leadership.
Arora said the Punjab Government would release two installments of 4% DA each, taking the total DA to 50%.
The cordiality of the meeting was also reflected in a gesture that symbolised the apparent end of the bitterness between the two sides. CM Mann and the employee leaders shared sweet laddus after the meeting.
Sukhchain Singh Khaira, the seniormost leader of the employees, was seen offering a laddu to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, in what was seen as a symbolic gesture marking a thaw in relations after months of differences over the non-payment of DA and other pending demands.
The development comes after prolonged differences between the Punjab Government and employee organisations over DA and other demands, which had led to protests and agitation by employees.