Lakhs of Punjab Government employees proceeded on mass casual leave on Thursday to press for the pending dearness allowance, the Old Pension Scheme and other service matters. In response, the Bhagwant Mann government decided to act tough.In an electorally charged atmosphere, with the elections to the state Assembly due in a few months and Opposition parties putting their weight behind employees, Chief Minister Mann remained adamant on his stand — “No talks till the strike is called off”.Though 16 union leaders reached Jalandhar for holding talks, even as massive protests continued outside government offices across the state, the Chief Minister made his intentions clear that he would not hold talks because the employees had already proceeded with the protest.Sources in the government told The Tribune that the government had conveyed to the union leaders on Wednesday that they should not go ahead with the protest if they wanted to resolve their issues.The refusal of the Chief Minister to hold talks further agitated the protesting employees. The protests at the main Secretariat here and in other cities grew aggressive. The protesting unions have now announced to burn effigies of the Chief Minister across the state on Friday and Saturday. They will hold a meeting in Ludhiana on Jattvibeday to decide on their next course of action.As nearly four lakh government employees and 3.50 lakh pensioners took part in the “maha hartal”, the government decided to crack down on the protest by late afternoon.Mirroring its tough stance against the tehsildar and PCS protests in 2023, the government on Thursday directed all administrative secretaries and heads of departments to submit lists of employees who remained absent from duty without authorisation.“We are not scared of the government…we are prepared to confront it,” said Sukhchain Khera, a prominent union leader and convener of the Sanjha Mulazam Manch. “We are ready for any action by the government. It is our democratic right to protest,” he said.In January 2023, PCS officers in the state had proceed on mass casual leave in solidarity with a colleague who was arrested by the Vigilance Bureau. Tehsildars had offered them solidarity. IAS officers had shown strong resentment against the Vigilance Bureau’s action against one of their colleagues.However, back then, the government, strong after the massive victory in 2022, had adopted a “return to work or face consequences” approach. That time, it was just a handful of officials as compared to the 7.50 lakh employees and pensioners protesting against the government now.While pollsters feel that this 7.50 lakh force of employees and pensioners turning against the ruling party would translate into a much bigger chunk of voters — around 38 lakh — many top functionaries said the action was necessary to ensure smooth functioning of the government.The order, issued by the Department of Personnel on Thursday, is indicative of strong action being contemplated against the employees. It said the government had received complaints from various quarters that the public was facing inconvenience because officials were not attending office.All administrative secretaries and department heads were asked to prepare lists of such absent employees and submit these to the Department of General Administration by the end of the day on Thursday.