Kolkata, Mar 13 (PTI) A commotion broke out outside Khadya Bhavan, the headquarters of the West Bengal Food and Civil Supplies Department, on Friday as a section of state government employees tried to prevent colleagues from entering the office during a ‘cease-work’ agitation over pending dearness allowance.
The protest was called by the ‘Sangrami Joutha Mancha’ (Joint Movement Forum) to press the state government for payment of DA arrears, and implementation of a recent Supreme Court direction on the issue.
Forum leader Bhaskar Ghosh claimed that most state government employees abstained from work, and said the protesters appealed to those who turned up to stay away in solidarity with the agitation.
“We offered red roses to those who came to work, requesting them not to attend office today. Many listened, while those who did not acted as per their conscience,” he told reporters.
Ghosh denied allegations that protesters blocked vehicles from entering the premises on Free School Street, and alleged that “provocations came from a few pro-TMC government employees”.
However, a spokesperson of the Trinamool Congress-affiliated state government employees’ union claimed that attendance in offices remained “100 per cent” despite the agitation, and said the employees supported the “pro-people and pro-government policies” of the Mamata Banerjee administration.
Members of the forum also staged demonstrations outside government offices in several districts, including Berhampur, Bankura, Barasat, Malda and Midnapore, urging colleagues to refrain from work.
According to the forum, employees participating in the protest would refrain from performing official duties during the day-long agitation.
The ‘Sangrami Joutha Mancha’ alleged that the state government had not taken adequate steps to implement the Supreme Court’s directive to follow a phased process for payment of DA to employees on par with their central government counterparts.
The apex court had also directed the state to pay 25 per cent of the DA arrears accumulated between 2008 and 2019 by March 31, but little visible progress has been made by the government in this regard, the forum claimed.
Meanwhile, the West Bengal Finance Department issued a memorandum, making attendance compulsory for all state government employees on Friday.
The directive said all state government offices and institutions receiving grants-in-aid must remain fully functional, and employees would not be allowed to avail casual leave or any other form of absence on the day.
It warned that any unauthorised absence would be treated as “dies-non” – resulting in loss of pay for the day and a break in service record.
The order clarified that employees already on sanctioned maternity leave, child care leave, medical leave or earned leave approved before March 12 would not be affected. Absence due to hospitalisation, bereavement in the family or serious illness beginning before March 12 would also be exempt subject to verification.
Official sources said attendance remained high at several West Bengal government offices in the city, including at secretariat ‘Nabanna’, as well as in block offices, municipalities, panchayats and state-aided educational institutions across the state.
The dispute over DA parity between the state government and a section of employees has been continuing for several years, with employees demanding parity with central government staff and payment of arrears pending since 2008.
Leader of Opposition, BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari, has extended support to the striking employees and warned that any “vindictive action” by the state government against the protesters would not be tolerated. PTI SUS RBT
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