The Asha Workers and Facilitators Union, Punjab, today formally extended its profound gratitude to Punjab Finance Minister and Chairman of the Cabinet Sub-Committee, Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema, for his instrumental role in securing a landmark life insurance scheme for them. Meeting with the Finance Minister during a wider series of deliberations with various employee organizations, the union welcomed the newly implemented financial security measures.
Simultaneously, Minister Cheema addressed the long-standing grievances of several other transport, agricultural, and educational non-teaching unions, issuing strict directives to the respective departments to immediately process all legitimate demands concerning service regularization and salary enhancements. During the high-level meeting, representatives from the Asha Workers and Facilitators Union expressed deep appreciation to the Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema for championing their welfare.
The Union representatives said, “The Finance Minister played a definitive role in ensuring the provision of a life insurance cover worth Rs 30 lakh in the event of an accidental death and Rs 5 lakh in the case of a natural death for Asha workers and facilitators across the state”. The union highlighted that this crucial policy fulfills a long-standing demand, offering vital financial security to thousands of frontline healthcare facilitators and their families.
In addition to expressing their thanks, the union leadership raised another pressing concern regarding certain administrative allowances that have been discontinued by the Central Government. They urged the Punjab state government to formally intervene and advocate for the restoration of these benefits.
Taking immediate note of the issue, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema instructed the Department of Health and Family Welfare to compile a comprehensive report on these discontinued allowances, assuring the delegation that the state government will forcefully and effectively take up the matter with the Centre.
Demonstrating the state government’s overarching commitment to resolving employee grievances, the Finance Minister also held exhaustive discussions with delegations from six other major employee bodies. These included the Contract P.R.T.C. Workers Union, the Punjab Roadways (PUNBUS) State Transport Workers Union, the Punjab Roadways PUNBUS/ PRTC Contract Workers Union, Punjab Transport Staff Association, the Sanjukt ATMA Punjab Association (SAPA), and the TET Pass Non-Teaching Staff Union.
The deliberations with these unions focused heavily on core issues such as the regularisation of contractual services, salary revisions, and other pending departmental matters. Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema listened to the grievances of each union with close attention and reiterated that the state government is fully committed to safeguarding employee interests. He concluded the meetings by ordering the senior officials of the concerned departments to take prompt action and resolve all genuine demands in a swift, time-bound manner.
During the meetings, Kirandeep Kaur, Jasvir Kaur and Paramjeet Kaur from the Asha Workers and Facilitators Union Harwinder Singh, Gurdhian Singh and Manjinder Kumar from the Contract P.R.T.C. Workers Union, Harminder Singh, Lakhwinder Singh, Bachitter Singh and Jagdeep Singh from the Punjab Roadways (PUNBUS) State Transport Workers Union, Resham Singh Gill, Shamsher Singh, Harkesh Singh and Rohi Ram from the Punjab Roadways PUNBUS/ PRTC Contract Workers Union, Harmeek Singh, Jajinder Singh, Sukhchain Singh and Kuldeep Singh from the Punjab Transport Staff Association, Gurpartap Singh Aulakh, Shaminder Singh Brar, Varinder Singh and Satnam Singh from the Sanjukt ATMA Punjab Association (SAPA), and Gurwinder Singh, Kuldeep Singh and Manwinder Pal from the TET Pass Non-Teaching Staff Union represented their Unions.