As employees and pensioners gear up for one of the largest state-level protests in recent history, the Punjab Government is considering an offer to pay 6 per cent interest on pending dearness allowance (DA) arrears to pacify them.Nearly 4 lakh state government, board and corporation employees plan to take mass casual leave on August 27 to demand their pending DA instalments. They will be joined across the state by 3.5 lakh pensioners representing various unions. The protest will target deputy commissioner offices in all districts. Major demonstrations have also been planned at Sector 17 and outside the Punjab Secretariat in Sector 1, Chandigarh.While essential services will continue and road blockades will be avoided, routine public operations will be severely disrupted. Staff at healthcare facilities (barring emergency wards), public schools and colleges will participate in the protest.CM Bhagwant Mann is scheduled to meet union leaders in Chandigarh on the day of the “maha hartal”. Following an August 3 Punjab and Haryana High Court order instructing the state to release the DA instalments, the AAP govt is reconsidering the plan to file an appeal in the Supreme Court.