Mamata faces blowback over 4% DA hike as govt staff, Oppn flag 36% gap

The state employees have already been fighting a legal battle with the Bengal government to demand pay parity with the employees of the Centre or other states.

Addressing an event opening the Christmas festivities in Kolkata’s Park Street area on December 21, Mamata said about 14 lakh state government employees and pensioners will be benefited

from her government’s decision to raise DA by 4%, which, she added, will cost the exchequer an additional Rs 2,400 crore. “For us, DA is not mandatory but optional. We have a scarcity of funds. However, thinking about the well-being of the families of government employees, we decided to increase the DA,” she said.

Referring to the protesting employees’ rejection of the 4% DA hike for being “too little”, a senior official of the state administration said, “Till date consumer price index is around 5%. So, it is obvious that by next March the Central government will again raise DA by about 5%. Then the difference will again increase from the current 36% to 41%. Naturally, employees are not happy with just a 4% DA hike.”

The Sangrami Joutha Mancha (SJM), an umbrella outfit of several state employees’ bodies, has been holding protest for about a year to demand parity in DA hike with the central employees. Recently, the outfit demanded permission to hold its demonstration near the state secretariat Nabanna in Howrah, but the police denied it. Thereafter, they moved the Calcutta High Court, which permitted them to hold a dharna near Nabanna from December 22 to December 24.

SJM leader Bhashkar Ghosh said it was “shameful” that despite the court’s order the police allegedly tried to block their dharna. “Our protest will continue till the government clears full DA dues,” he said.

During their dharna near Nabanna, several Opposition party leaders, including CPI(M) state secretary Md Salim and senior BJP leader Dilip Ghosh, went to the protest site to express solidarity with the protesters and use their stage to target the TMC government on various issues including corruption.

Addressing the SJM, Md Salim said, “What you have done, will be an example for those fighting for their legitimate demands, who will be encouraged by your movement.” Dilip Ghosh also echoed similar views.

The SJM has announced that it will hold a mega rally on the issue on January 19. It has also planned a three-day “pen down” stir subsequently.

Taking aim at Mamata, Leader of Opposition (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari, in a post on “X”, said, “So, any reduction of gap which is currently 40%, in comparison with the Central Rate of DA is immaterial and would stay like that only, as the prospective increase in DA for the Central Govt Employees would be again effective from January 2024 and would likely cancel out any reduction or closing of gap with this paltry 4% increase. So, this minuscule increase is a mere ‘lollipop’ for the WB Govt Employees before the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections and a strategy to evade tough questions during the ensuing legal battle in the Court of Law. Nothing more nothing less.”

The CPI(M)-affiliated state government employees organisation, Co-ordination Committee, also criticised Mamata’s move. Its general secretary Biswajit Gupta Chowdhury said, “DA is our right. We are not begging from the government. We will continue our movement until the government agrees to give our entire dues.”

The general secretary of the Forward Bloc-affiliated state employees body Steering Committee, Sanket Chakraborty said, “Among the states West Bengal has now the highest gap with the Centre in terms of DA. After West Bengal comes Tripura, which also has 10% less gap than Bengal.”

There have also been concerns within the TMC camp on the issue with some party leaders conceding that they have not been able to expand the support base of their state employees body due to the DA row.