After Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann cracked the whip on Wednesday morning and declared their strike in opposition to the arrest of an officer in a corruption case unlawful, Punjab Civil Service (PCS) and income officers fell in line and joined obligation at 2pm.

In strict written orders, Mann directed chief secretary VK Janjua to droop all officers who didn’t be part of obligation by 2pm on Wednesday.

Also learn: Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann declares PCS officers’ strike illegal

“It has been brought to my notice that some officers are not attending duty in the garb of some strike. They are protesting against strong action taken by the government against corrupt officers. The government has zero tolerance to corruption and such a strike amounts to blackmailing and arm-twisting. It cannot be tolerated by any responsible government,” the orders read.

He added that the period of absence of those who did not join duty by 2pm on Wednesday should be treated as “dies non (break in service)”.

Procedure will be followed, panel told

The decision to resume duty came after a six-member delegation of the PCS Officers’ Association met A Venu Prasad, the additional chief secretary to the chief minister, and Ravi Bhagat, the special principal secretary to the CM.

The Punjab Revenue Officers’ Association members also resumed duty.

The PCS officers withdrew their mass casual leave with immediate effect after Prasad told them that the anti-corruption drive would continue but procedures as specified under the law would be complied with.

The PCS Officers’ Association members had proceeded on a five-day casual leave on Monday to protest the arrest of the Regional Transport Authority (RTA), secretary in Ludhiana, Narinder Singh Dhaliwal, by the vigilance bureau, stating that the procedure was not followed . They also demanded immediate action against VB officials who allegedly “framed” PCS officer Tarsem Chand in a false case and a proper standard operating procedure (SOP) in matters of inquiries and registration of FIRs.

A committee will be constituted to see whether the procedure was followed in the recent cases against Dhaliwal, Tarsem Chand and naib tehsildar Sandeep Kumar.

PCS officers not workers who can form union: CS

Reiterating zero tolerance to corruption, chief secretary Janjua said in his orders: “PCS officers are not workers who can form a union and strike work under labor laws. This unauthorized absence from work and their strike is illegal. Those who do not join duty by 2pm today shall be suspended and their unauthorized absence from duty shall be treated as dies non that will result in break in service and further disciplinary action will ensue.”

Signal to IAS officers

The CM’s stern warning to PCS officers can also be a sign to the IAS officers who’ve expressed discontent over an FIR registered by the vigilance bureau in opposition to 2008-batch IAS officer Neelima and 10 different officers for permitting switch of an industrial plot to an actual property developer and its subsequent bifurcation and have been threatening to escalate their protest.

They are in search of instant withdrawal of the case in opposition to her, saying that the necessary prior approval was not taken by the VB from the competent authority beneath Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Quite a lot of officers should not averse to happening mass go away if the case in opposition to their colleague was not withdrawn and a few others in a gathering with the chief secretary even threatened on Monday to stop the service.