A joint platform of state government employees observed a two-hour-long pendown strike on Wednesday to press the Mamata Banerjee government to pay dearness allowance on a par with central government employees.

According to sources in the employees’ forum, the strike was observed in all government and allied offices, including schools and other educational institutions.

The strike held from 2pm to 4pm was called by the Sangrami Joutho Mancha, an umbrella forum of 32 bodies of government employees who have been demanding the payment of DA dues.

“We had kept emergency services running at hospitals. Otherwise, everywhere, our members observed the strike,” said Bhaskar Ghosh, the state convenor of the joint platform.

The Sangrami Joutho Mancha has been sitting on a protest demonstration near Shaheed Minar since January 27. Ghosh said if their demands were not met by the government the forum would head for bigger protests.

“What we are demanding is our right. Government employees in Bengal receive the lowest dearness allowance. This shouldn’t be the case. Today it was just a two-hour strike. If required we will go for bigger protests,” Ghosh added.

Apart from the fighting on the streets, the employees have moved court to force the state government pay them DA at par with the rate for central government employees. According to state government employees, they were getting 31 per cent less DA than their central counterparts.

Calcutta High Court had in May last year upheld a State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) order that directed the Bengal government to release DA arrears since July 2009 within three months. The state government had since moved the Supreme Court in the matter.

Speaking in Bolpur on Wednesday, Mamata criticised the Union budget for reworking income-tax slabs as she felt the benefit of the tweak would be neutralised by rising inflation.

Taking a dig at her comment, forum leaders said that if the chief minister was so concerned about inflation she should ensure that state government employees were paid their due DA.

“If Mamata is genuinely concerned about inflation and its effects she should release our long-pending DA. She has no moral right to speak on the issue as her administration has failed to control inflation in Bengal,” Ghosh said.