As many as 28 state government employees’ unions, whose members have been holding a sit-in at Esplanade since Friday, have called a two-hour cease-work on Wednesday to press for the payment of the dearness allowance (DA) dues.
“We are appealing to all state government employees to cease work between 2pm and 4pm on Wednesday to demand our DA dues. All emergency services, including hospitals and medical colleges, will be out of the purview of the cease-work,” a leader of the joint platform of the unions said on Sunday.
Though the biggest union of government employees, CPM backed Coordination Committee, is yet to join the platform directly, the movement has gained strength over the past few days, causing concern to Nabanna.
“If the agitation continues, more employees will join it, because there is a growing feeling among the employees that they are being denied their dues. This is a cause of concern because the state government wants to take up several development projects before the upcoming panchayat polls,” a bureaucrat said.
The state government employees have been demanding DA on a par with their colleagues in the central government. “At present, Bengal government employees are getting 35 per cent less DA compared with the central staff,” said another official.
In May last year, Calcutta High Court had upheld an order by the state administrative tribunal (SAT) that Bengal government employees be paid DA on a par with the central government staff. The court also asked the state to implement the SAT's order within three months.
When the state failed to implement the order, employees' unions approached the high court and contempt proceedings were started. The state approached the Supreme Court challenging the contempt proceedings. The case is pending.
The state had earlier said it needed Rs 41,000 crore at one go to clear the DA dues and that the current financial condition was not allowing it to shell out such a huge amount.