The strike called by various unions of state government employees left an impact on the attendance in offices, especially those in remote areas, on Friday even as the administration claimed that it had very little effect on the functioning of its departments, local bodies and educational institutions.

The unions had called the strike for dearness allowance (DA) parity with the central government’s staff.

Although the state claimed in a press release that the strike had no impact on the normal functioning of government offices and 90 per cent attendance was recorded, a section of bureaucrats said the figure might change once reports from panchayat offices reached.

“Primary reports suggest that many of the offices in remote areas recorded less than 70 per cent attendance. Even some offices like Khadya Bhavan and Survey Building in Calcutta reported much lower attendance,” said a bureaucrat.

The attendance of less than 70 per cent in some offices can be embarrassing for the government as more than 95 per cent of employees had turned out during previous strikes, said sources.

The fact that low attendance was indeed recorded in some offices became clear in the later half of the day as the government set the ball rolling to take action against those, who were absent without any valid reasons, said a source.

The government, however, had a different narrative.

“Most of the absentees were covered under different relaxations provided in the State Government circular issued vide No. 1068-F (P2) dated 9th March, 2023. Action will be initiated against employees who have willfully absented themselves today from work,” reads the press release.

The sources said all department heads and district magistrates had been asked to send the attendance reports to Nabanna by Friday evening. Once the reports reach Nabanna, the government will take a call on the steps that will be initiated against those who remained absent without valid reasons.

The government had said a day’s salary and service would be cut if the staff didn’t attend offices on Friday.

“The government has to take some action in a bid to send a message that the state will not tolerate strikes even if it is sympathetic towards the demands of the employees.... The government feels it is necessary to send a message so that repeated strikes can be avoided in future,” said the bureaucrat.

The sources explained that as Friday’s strike left some impact on the functioning of the government in districts, it might encourage the employees’ unions to call regular strikes for the higher DA.

“The problem has to be nipped in the bud. If the state does not take any action, it will send a message that the government has become weak. This could lead to chaos in future,” said a source.

The administration, the sources said, wants to execute a series of development projects ahead of panchayat polls. For example, the government wants to check if people are getting the benefits of its flagship schemes across the state by March 31.

“The strike has affected the work to some extent as many employees did not go to the field today. So, the government would not like such strikes in near future,” said another official.

The sources also said the finance department was likely to tell the heads of other departments and the district magistrates by Monday what steps needed to be initiated against the absent staff.

The employees’ unions said they considered the strike to be successful as many offices reported less than 20 per cent attendance, particularly outside Calcutta.

“If it does not wake the state government up, we will go for an indefinite strike. In case the government takes unlawful steps against the employees who participated in the strike, we will move to the court,” said a leader of the joint platform of employees’ unions.

Truant MLAs

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has sought the names of Trinamul Congress lawmakers, who are not attending Assembly sessions regularly, parliamentary affairs minister Sovandeb Chatterjee said on Friday.

Mamata made an unscheduled appearance in the Assembly during the concluding hours on Thursday. Many Trinamul MLAs had left by then, while some were absent for the entire day.

The sight of the empty treasury benches reportedly did not go down well with Mamata. “There are 365 days in a year. Out of them, at most 40 days are allotted for the House. The people have sent them (the MLAs) to speak for them in the House. Then, why would they not come? We have said this to our MLAs, especially the new ones, during the training programme.... The CM has asked us to send her a list of the names (of those who are irregular). We are trying to collect them,” Chatterjee told journalists.