West Bengal govt employees rally, demand immediate release of DA arrears

A major rally organised by West Bengal government employees in Kolkata brought out their aggression against the state government. Around 200 people on Sunday demanded the immediate release of pending Dearness Allowance arrears in compliance with a Supreme Court order on Sunday in a rally organised by Sangrami Joutha Mancha, a platform of West Bengal government employees in the city. 

The Supreme Court in its order on February 5 directed the West Bengal government to pay DA to them for the 2008-2019 period, calling it a legally-enforceable right. If implemented, about 20 lakh government employees will get their dues. 

The Supreme Court bench comprising of Justices Sanjay Karol and Prashant Kumar Mishra directed the state government to pay 25 per cent of the outstanding DA to its employees by March 6. It further directed CM Mamata Banerjee-led state government to file a status report after the payment of the first instalment and posted the matter for compliance on April 15. “We demand that the state enforces the Supreme Court order without delay. If the state does not act immediately, we will intensify the movement this month,” a spokesperson of the platform said. 

The rally, which went from Subodh Mallick Square to Esplanade, covering a distance of 1 km, called for all government employees to be a part of the movement. The employees’ organisation started a march to Nabanna earlier this week, but they were blocked by police near the main gate. In 2022, this issue was raised when some state government employees approached the Calcutta High Court, demanding DA at the same rate as their central government counterparts, along with pending arrears. 

In May 2022, the high court ruled in favour of the employees and instructed the state to align its DA with central rates. However, the state government challenged the high court's verdict by filing an appeal in the Supreme Court in November 2022. 

Since then, the state has implemented marginal increases in DA, which have not kept pace with the central government's rates.