Kolkata, March 13 – CPI(M) leaders on Friday criticized the West Bengal government over its failure to implement the Supreme Court order, which mandated the payment of 25% of the Dearness Allowance (DA) arrears from 2008 to 2019 by March 31.
CPI(M) leader and advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya described the situation as unfortunate, stating that state government employees in West Bengal had to go on strike to secure the implementation of a Supreme Court judgment.
Speaking to IANS, he said, "A constitutional government should have immediately implemented the order of the highest constitutional body. But this (West Bengal) government is not doing so, therefore the employees have to go on strike."
Various associations representing West Bengal government employees, consolidated under the collective organization of Sangrami Joutho Mancha (Joint Movement Forum), initiated a complete work stoppage on Friday to express their discontent regarding the purported hesitation and inaction of the government concerning the disbursement of Dearness Allowance (DA).
However, the Trinamool Congress-led West Bengal government has already issued a notification making the attendance of the concerned employees mandatory on Friday in order to avoid salary deductions, excluding those on leave with valid reasons.
Reacting to the notification, Bhattacharya said, "State government employees do not care about this threat. They have seen such threats many times before. They are more interested in ensuring the implementation of their legal right."
Upon suspension of court proceedings, he said, "I am very sorry to say that court proceedings have to be suspended today because the employees were forced to go on strike to combat the apathy of the West Bengal government, their inability to implement the Supreme Court judgment."
Bhattacharya further added, "If the government doesn't implement the apex court's judgment, will it at all care about the High Court's order?"
CPI (M) leader and advocate Sayan Banerjee told IANS, "This state government is very adamant and they don't care about the Supreme Court judgments, the tribunal's decisions, or the High Court's orders. They have this don't care attitude towards the judiciary."
Banerjee asserted that the Supreme Court had long ago ruled that DA is a right and it should be cleared with the arrear whatever the 25 per cent is remained. "That is to be paid. So for that reason they have called for a strike. To show support I have joined their protest march," he added.
According to the Joint Movement Forum, the state government has provided sufficient signals to disregard the Supreme Court's ruling from last month, which mandated the payment of 25% of the DA arrears from 2008 to 2019 by March 31. Furthermore, it was instructed to adhere to a step-by-step approach, as directed by the apex court, to ensure that DA payments to employees are aligned with those of Central government staff, along with the arrears that have accumulated since 2008.
