With lakhs of Punjab government employees staging a day-long protest on Thursday against the state’s AAP government, the Punjab government has decided to crack down on their protest. Reminiscent of how it dealt with the protests by tehsildars and PCS officers in its early days in 2023, the government on Thursday directed all administrative secretaries and heads of departments to compile and submit lists of employees who are absent from duty without authorisation, amid the call by government employees and pensioners for a ‘Maha Hartal’ on Thursday.In January 2023, PCS officers of the state had threatened to proceed on mass casual leave in solidarity with a colleague who was arrested by the Vigilance Bureau. The tehsildars had offered them support. But then the government, following the massive victory of 2022, had adopted a “return to work or face consequences” approach. That time, it was just a handful of officials as compared to the 7.5 lakh employees and pensioners protesting against the government now.The order, issued by the Department of Personnel (Personnel Policies-II Branch), indicates a strong action being contemplated against the employees. It says the government had received complaints from various quarters that the public was facing inconvenience as officials were not attending their offices. All administrative secretaries and department heads have been asked to prepare lists of such absent employees and submit these to the Department of General Administration by Thursday evening.The government’s move could further escalate the standoff with employee and pensioner organisations, which have been demanding settlement of their long-pending dues.