Kolkata, March 12 The West Bengal government on Thursday warned of salary deductions for employees who are absent on March 13, when a section of state government staff called a strike to protest non-payment of a portion of pending Dearness Allowance (DA), an official said.
The administration said all state government offices will remain open, and attendance will be mandatory. Employees absent without valid reasons will be marked "dies non", meaning that day will not be counted as service, and the salary for that day will be deducted.
Exceptions will be allowed in cases such as serious illness, hospitalization of the employee or a family member, death in the family, maternity leave, or previously sanctioned leave, officials said.
Employees absent without permission will be asked to explain their absence, failing which leave may be denied, salary cut, and disciplinary action initiated. Departments have been directed to complete attendance verification by March 30 and report action taken.
The strike has been called by the Sangrami Joutha Mancha, a platform of agitating employees demanding payment of DA arrears.
"All of India follows the law laid down by the Supreme Court, but in Bengal, the law functions at the direction of one person. The semi-final is over, the final will be played on March 13," Sangrami Joutha Mancha leader Bhaskar Ghosh said.
The dispute stems from pending DA payments to state government employees.
The Calcutta High Court had directed the state to clear the dues, after which the government moved the Supreme Court of India.
On February 5, a bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Manoj Misra ruled that DA is a legal right and directed the state to pay 25 per cent of arrears in two installments by May, with the first due by March 31.
A committee headed by retired judge Indu Malhotra will decide the schedule for payment of the remaining dues.
The state government has told the apex court that records of over 3.17 lakh employees need verification, and many pre-2016 records exist in handwritten service books, requiring time for digitisation.