West Bengal govt. employees protest demanding DA hike

The Mamata Banerjee administration announced it will treat the staff’s absence as leave and break in service.

Demonstrators picketed before the gates of State Government offices and educational institutions demanding hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) as the day-long strike called by some organisations of West Bengal Government employees began on March 10.

Demonstrators squatted in front of the gates of State Government offices like Writers Building, Bikash Bhavan, Khadya Bhavan, Swastha Bhavan, and Kolkata Municipal Corporation.

Similar scenes were witnessed in district headquarters town, block development offices and municipalities and panchayats as the number of attendees was fewer than on other days.

A protestor, belonging to the CPI(M)‘s employees wing, said outside the Kolkata Municipal Corporation building here that “instead of issuing one notice after another this government should work towards hiking the DA of State employees and bring it on par with other states and Centre.”

Official sources, however, said work was not affected and employees attended office.

In Medinipur College, Paschim Medinipur, North Bengal University, Siliguri and Siksha Bhavan, the agitators, belonging to DSO and BJP respectively, raised slogans at the main gate and forcibly tried to stop the students and employees from entering office at around 10 am.

This led to altercation and exchange of fisticuffs between the supporters of ruling party and the agitators. All major opposition parties ¬ CPIM, Congress and BJP ¬ are supporting the strike called by State Government employees while the TMC has accused the Opposition of disrupting work culture, despite the State’s financial crisi.