Kerala Assembly: Opposition UDF stages walkout over ‘denial of benefits’ to government employees

UDF walks out of Kerala Assembly accusing LDF government of neglecting employee benefits, sparking heated debate.

The Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) walked out of the Kerala Assembly in protest on Wednesday (January 22, 2025), accusing the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government of apathy in addressing the “unprecedented backlog” in pay revision and other benefits of government employees and pensioners.

An Opposition demand that the House halt the day’s business to discuss the matter was declined by Speaker A.N. Shamseer after Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal termed the UDF charges “politically motivated, misleading and baseless.”

The issue came up in the House on a day a section of employees’ and teachers’ organisations are striking work in Kerala in protest against the “continued denial” of pay revision, dearness allowance, leave surrender and other benefits.

Mr. Balagopal assured the Assembly the State government would disburse the benefits in a time-bound manner. The assurances regarding employee benefits made by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in July 2024 under a Rule 300 statement in the House will be kept, he said.

“It was the Congress-led UDF that had a history of denying the employees their rightful benefits,” he said. As announced by the Chief Minister, two pending DA arrears have been issued this year. Two more will be disbursed in the next fiscal, Mr. Balagopal said.

He accused the UDF of being “insincere” in its regard for employee welfare, saying that employees and farmers were aware that the Left front represented their “guarantee.” “Kerala is among the handful of States that allowed leave surrender benefit and implemented pay revision once in five years,” he said.

While the Union government has left 10 lakh vacancies unfilled, the LDF government in Kerala has taken care to fill all vacancies, Mr. Balagopal said.