The division bench of Acting Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam on Monday once again told advocate general S.N. Mukherjee to ask the state chief secretary to constitute a committee to meet five representatives of Sangrami Joutha Mancha, a joint platform of state government employees, and informally find a solution within 10 days on their demand for dearness allowances on a par with central rate.
The Acting Chief Justice categorically asked the advocate general to consider his suggestion merely as an observation of the court and not as an order as the issue of dearness allowance was already before the Supreme Court.
The Acting Chief Justice remarked that owing to frequent pendown strikes by the agitating state government employees, the normal functioning of the administration and the high court was facing problems.
The advocate general then said there was no need for the bench to issue any written order on the issue. He assured the Acting Chief Justice that he would convey the observation of the court to the chief secretary.
Last week, the Acting Chief Justice asked the state secretary to meet three representatives of the state government employees to settle the DA issue.
But on Monday, the advocate general pointed out that since the issue was already before the Supreme Court, the state could not convene such a meeting.
Bhaskar Ghosh, convener, Sangrami Joutha Mancha, said he welcomed the court's observation.
The Mancha convener added: “It is unfortunate that in a democratic country, the court has to intervene for the government to initiate a discussion with its own employees who are demanding their rights.”
Drawing attention to their plight, Ghosh said: “However, we are happy about the court’s observation of Monday and we welcome it. We hope that the (state) government will come to join the discussions with us with a positive attitude.”
For the last couple of months, state government employees have intensified their agitation for DA on a par with central government employees. The current gap is 36 per cent.
