Ajit Singh Bagri, president of the Federation, Ranbir Dhillon, general secretary, Karnail Singh, senior vice-president, Sittal Singh Chahal, finance secretary and Avinash Chopra, secretary, in a joint statement here today, said the decision to intensify the agitation had been taken to express the complete rejection of Punjab Government's policies concerning the state employees, pensioners and the common man.

The leaders said that the effigies of health, education and public health ministers would be burnt at selected hospitals, schools and public health offices from August 21 to 25 to protest the government's failure to provide medical facilities, the high costs of medicines, medical tests, surgical procedures in the government hospitals, lack of education facilities in schools, failure to fill the 10,000 vacant posts of teachers and the steep hike in fees in schools, colleges, universities, medical and engineering courses. In the second phase of the agitation, effigies of the state finance minister and Chief Minister would be burnt from August 26 to August 31, they said. They added that this was being done to highlight the financial mismanagement of the Badal Government, its failure to implement the Rajan Kashyap Committee's five-point recommendations on financial reforms and the imposition of undeclared financial emergency in the state resulting in non-payment of salaries and other benefits to the stateemployees.