Lakhs of government employees associated with 18 different workers’ organisations took to the streets in West Bengal on Friday, demanding a long overdue hike in their dearness allowance (DA).
Dearness allowance is a cost of living adjustment that the government pays to public sector employees and pensioners. It is calculated as a percentage of an employee’s basic salary to mitigate the effect of inflation.
On Friday morning, protesting employees went on a strike in all government offices, schools and colleges across the state to press their demands for an allowance at par with Central government employees.
The strike was announced by an umbrella body of 18 different organisations of government employees, and is supported by the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front and BJP-dominated employees’ council.
Government school teachers and other staff are also planning to carry out a march to Bikash Bhawan in Kolkata, the office of the state education department.
Speaking to The New Indian over the phone, a protesting employee said, “We have launched this strike for our rightful hike in DA by the state government. Government school teachers have also responded to our call. After the completion of the higher secondary examination, we will also stage a sit-in protest to press our demands.”
“We also plan to take out a march to Bikash Bhawan soon. We will continue this protest until our demands are met,” he said.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s government, however, has refused to budge and has asked the protesting employees to join their duties at the earliest.
The state government said that it will not allow any leaves without prior approval, adding that Friday’s absence will be treated as a break in service.
“No casual leave or any other kind of leave for absence either in the first half of the day or in the second half or for the whole day shall be granted to any employee on March 10,” reads an order issued by the department of finance.
However, the order will not be applicable to employees belonging to exempted categories such as severely ill or those who are on leave before March 9.