The West Bengal government has announced a big good news for its employees. The state government has increased the Dearness Allowance (DA) by 4%, which will be effective from April 1, 2025. With this increase, the total DA of state government employees will become 18%. This decision will also benefit state government employees, teachers of government-aided schools, non-teaching staff, and municipality and panchayat personnel.
However, the employees are dissatisfied with this increase, as state government employees are getting 35% less DA than central government employees. So let us know the reaction of the employees after this announcement and the latest status of the DA case.
Dissatisfaction among employees, strike announced on 7-9 April
Employee organizations are not happy with this announcement of the state government. Leftist employee organizations say that 39% DA is still due and an increase of only 4% is insufficient. Sangrami Samyukta Manch convenor Bhaskar Ghosh said that they will go on a three-hour strike in government offices from April 7 to 9 demanding proper dearness allowance.
Left organizations have criticized the government’s decision and called it a disregard of judicial orders. Coordination Committee member Vishwajit Gupta Choudhary said that the government has not yet given the pending DA, due to which the employees are suffering huge financial losses.
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Hearing of DA case in Supreme Court postponed again
Meanwhile, the hearing of the case related to DA of West Bengal government employees has been postponed once again in the Supreme Court. Now the matter will be heard in April in a bench of Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Manoj Mishra.
Earlier, this matter related to DA was pending in the bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy, but the hearing could not be completed due to his retirement. Now the employees will have to wait for the next hearing. The repeated postponement of the hearing of the DA case is increasing frustration among the employees.
Differences among government employees
Political differences are also being seen among government employees on this announcement of the government. Leftist organizations have called this decision injustice to the employees, while Trinamool Congress-backed organizations have supported this decision of the government.
Members of the Trinamool Employees Union said that this decision to increase the dearness allowance reflects the commitment of the government. This division is also raising questions about the unity of the employees’ movement.
Employees will get DA same as the Center
Government employees say that their movement will continue until they get DA same as the central government. Now it will be interesting to see whether the government will accept the demands of the employees and increase the DA further or will stick to its decision despite the strike.
The determination of the employees and the attitude of the government, both will play an important role in this matter. The coming days will decide whether the government employees of West Bengal get their rights or they will have to wait more.
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