West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday announced that her government would be giving a four per cent raise in dearness allowance (DA) to all its employees from New Year’s Day.
The opposition, however, mocked the decision as a “lollipop” ahead of next year’s Lok Sabha polls.
Banerjee.
“I announce that all 14 lakh state government employees, teaching and non-teaching staff of all schools, colleges and universities, and employees of all statutory undertakings and parastatals and pensioners would be getting another instalment of 4 per cent DA from January 1, 2024,” Banerjee said.
Stating that the provision of DA is mandatory for the central government whereas it is “optional” for the state, Banerjee said that for the DA hike, her government would have to bear an additional expense of Rs 2,400 crore.
“We raise DA periodically. Though we have a Pay Commission, we give this additionally. The Centre’s pay structure is different from ours. Their service rules are different. For us, DA is not mandatory, but optional. Despite that, we give it because our employees work day in and day out. So, keeping in mind their well-being we have taken this decision,” she added.
Banerjee, while referring to her meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday to press for the release of the dues to the state, said, “We will have to spend Rs 2,400 crore for this despite the fact that we do not get our dues from the Centre. I have met the PM in this regard. The Centre owes us Rs 1.15 lakh crore..
“Under the new pay scale, the state govt has released 6 per cent DA from 2019 with an expenditure of Rs 4,144 crore in four years,” she said.
The former Left Front government in the state had given an annual DA of 35 per cent as per the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission.
Soon after assuming power, the Mamata Banerjee government, in phases, implemented 90 per cent of the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission for which it had to spend Rs 1,66,865 crores to date.
In 2019, the state government implemented the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission, raising the dearness allowance to 125 per cent of their basic pay.
“So, after calculating from 2019, the total amount of DA given by us will be 135 per cent. I believe people will be able to get a good night’s sleep before New Year,” she added.
West Bengal government employees have been protesting for almost a year to press for their demand for a hike in the DA, seeking regularisation and parity with their central government counterparts.
Criticising the state government’s decision, Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari highlighted the substantial disparity of around 40 per cent with the central rate of DA.
In a post on X, he said, “WB Chief Minister has announced a meagre 4 per cent hike in Dearness Allowance for state government employees..
Adhikari emphasised the periodic revisions made by the central government based on the All India Consumer Price Index.
He argued that the minuscule increase is inconsequential, given the usual revision of DA on January 1 and July 1 each year.
Adhikari suggested that the current 40 per cent gap would likely persist, as the prospective increase in DA for central government employees is anticipated in January 2024.
He labelled the increase a mere “lollipop” to woo government employees before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
“So, this minuscule increase is a mere lollipop for the West Bengal government employees before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and a strategy to evade tough questions during the ensuing legal battle in the Court of Law. Nothing more nothing less,” he stated.
CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty expressed solidarity with protesting state government employees, branding the increase as “mockery”.
“It seems the chief minister is very happy after holding a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. So, it seems she decided to make fun of the government employees. We criticise this miniscule hike when the gap is nearly 40 per cent,” he said.
Banerjee had met Modi to discuss pending central funds for the state. She indicated that the PM recommended collaborative efforts between state and central officials to resolve outstanding issues.
A large section of the agitating state government employees were also not satisfied with the CM’s announcement.
Sangamri Joutha Mancha convenor Bhaskar Ghosh told PTI, “This is nothing but a donation. We will not be accepting it and will continue our movement till our DA is regularised.”
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