The State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) on Wednesday rejected the Bengal state government’s plea to review its earlier directive to pay dearness allowance (DA) to state government employees on a par with their central government counterparts.

State government employees currently get 21 per cent less DA than their counterparts employed with the central government, a source said. Correcting the imbalance would put a strain on the “cash-strapped” state government’s coffers.

Earlier, on July 26 last year, the SAT had issued an order declaring that state government employees were entitled to get DA on a par with central government employees, and that the state government would have to clear all dues to its employees.

The bench had also held that the DA of the state government should be fixed on the basis of consumer price index like the Union government.

After the order, the state government had moved the tribunal seeking a review of its directive, citing that the tribunal had “failed to consider the financial constraints of the state” while delivering its verdict.

But the tribunal on Wednesday refused to accept the state’s argument after hearing its plea, in a blow to the cash-strapped government tackling the Covid-19 pandemic.

Clearing the DA dues is a long-pending demand of state government employees.

An official said that the state government was not in a position to clear the DA arrears right now.

“Doing so would require at least a sum of Rs 700 crore annually, which seems difficult,” the official said.

Seeking a reprieve, the state government had moved to SAT seeking a review of its 2019 verdict.

“As the review petition got rejected, the state government may move appeals either before Calcutta High Court or the Supreme Court,” a veteran lawyer of Calcutta High Court said.

Two major employees’ unions — the Confederation of State Government Employees and the Federation of Rajya Sarkari Karmachari Samiti — had moved a case before the SAT a few years ago, seeking an order for the state to pay DA to state government employees on a par with central government employees. The unions also demanded their DA arrears since 2016, the time when the Centre had implemented the recommendations of the 7th pay commission.

The SAT in February 2017 had rejected the unions’ prayer by observing that it was the discretion of the state whether to pay DA to its employees or not as state government employees did not have the right to get DA.

Against the order, the unions had moved an appeal before Calcutta High Court. A division bench of state’s apex court headed by Justice Debashish Kargupta had held that the state employees had every right to get DA and furthermore it should have parity with central government employees.

The high court sent the issue back to the tribunal for a final adjudication.

The SAT heard the case and issued its final verdict on July 26, 2019. In its order, the SAT had also asked the state to comply with its order within three months. Instead of obeying the order, the state authorities moved Calcutta High Court again this February but the plea was rejected. The state again moved the review petition before the tribunal.