Section of Bengal govt employees on ‘cease-work’ over DA dues

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.“Up to now, the state government has not taken any action regarding the payment of the 25%25 DA arrears owed from 2008 to 2019 by the March 31 deadline,stated Bhaskar Ghosh.
According to a notification issued on Thursday by the Finance Department at Nabanna, if any employee remains absent from office without a specific reason, a red mark will be recorded in the service book and one day’s salary will be deducted. However, the notification also stated that if any employee is hospitalised due to illness, on maternity leave, or on leave for medical reasons, such absence will be considered separately. Meanwhile, in view of the strike called by various government employees’ organisations over the DA issue, all leave of government employees has been cancelled except in special circumstances.