Jalandhar/Barnala/Bathinda/Amritsar, July 31 -- Normal life was disrupted at most places in Punjab on Thursday with markets and commercial establishments remaining shut following a state-level bandh call by sanitation workers over their pending demands and the Barnala lathicharge incident. Sanitation workers also took out protest rallies at several places against the state government, demanding legal action against police officials involved in the lathicharge. Sanitation workers have been striking work since July 8 to demand regular jobs for outsourced staff, salary increase and restoration of the old pension scheme, severely hitting garbage collection, transportation and disposal operations in various parts of the state. On July 27, cabinet ministers Harpal Cheema and Harjot Singh held a meeting with sanitation unions and announced an increase in the monthly wages of contractual employees from Rs.10,500 to Rs.20,500. The government also announced the constitution of a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the police action against the protesting sanitation workers in Barnala on July 22, besides providing financial assistance of Rs.1 lakh to those injured in the lathicharge. Gopal Thapar, state president of Municipal Employees' Union, said, "The government claims that the salary has been increased to Rs.20,500. But around Rs.2,600 will be deducted towards EPF, and there will also be ECR deductions. So they will receive around Rs.17,000 only." On July 22, police resorted to a lathicharge in Barnala to disperse protesting sanitation workers after they tried to thwart a garbage clean-up drive by the district administration. The clash left 22 people injured, including 18 sanitation workers and four police personnel. Following the incident, the state government suspended Barnala DSP Satvir Singh, while Barnala City-1 SHO Lakhwinder Singh was transferred to the district police lines. In Barnala, the Safai Sewak Union, along with farmer unions, traders, outsourced employee unions and locals, marched across the city, raising slogans against the state government. Gulshan Kumar, district president of the Safai Sewak Union, said, "We ensure cleanliness of our surroundings while earning only Rs.10,000. We will continue to press for our demands until they are fulfilled." He also demanded an FIR against the cops involved in the lathicharge incident. Similar bandh was observed in Sangrur, Bathinda, Mansa, Fazilka and other districts of South Malwa region as well, along with Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar districts in Doaba, and Amritsar....