As though the 600-days-long sit-in demonstration by the victims of recruitment scam was not enough, a joint forum of 8 lakh strong State Government employees unions too have begun a continuous dharna in support of 38 per cent hike in dearness allowances.
The government employees including the retired staff have been protesting for months alleging that the Government had not paid them the revised dearness allowance after the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations were implemented by various governments. This, despite the Calcutta High directing the State to do so.
According to the joint forum leaders while they were eligible for a approved 34 per cent DA of the basic pay the government has so far given 3 per cent DA, which was not only less than the central government standards but also lesser than the DA given by the other States like Kerala, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and even Uttar Pradesh. The employees association which promptly got support from the protestors of teachers’ recruitment scam said they would continue the movement, till their demands were made.
“We have called for a 2-hour cease work on Wednesday … if the Government continues to pay no heed to our demand then we will go for a bigger movement,” one of their senior leaders said, even as the ruling Trinamool Congress blamed the Opposition BJP and the Left for fomenting problem.
“It is the CPI(M) and BJP which are inciting the government workers to derive political mileage from it … still the people will once again vote for the Trinamool Congress in the panchayat and general elections” TMC MP Shantanu Sen said.
Supporting the cause of the State employees, Bengal Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari said, his party would raise the issue inside the Assembly and take the movement to its logical end. “We will raise this issue in the Assembly … because this Government does not even listen to the High Court which has directed them repeatedly to clear the DA,” he said. The State government has moved the Supreme Court after the High Court order directing the government to clear the DA arrears of the employees.
CPI(M) MP and senior counsel Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya said “there is no rule of law in Bengal which is proved by the way they get the audacity to defy the High Court … this is sheer arrogance that has come with power…”
However TMC MP Sen advised the opposition to consider the large-scale welfare works undertaken by the Chief Minister.
“Mamata Banerjee has introduced a whole range of projects from Kanyashree, Yuvashree, Sabooj Saathi, Sikshashree, Swasthya Saathi to Lakshmir Bhandar ... on the other hand the Centre is not releasing more than Rs 1 lakh crore due to the State Government …
we are not asking for alms, but we are asking for our rightful money which the Centre is not clearing … Once the central government clears that dues we shall be able to clear the DA,” he said.