Tribunal's DA verdict today

TT, 26 Jul 2019, Calcutta: The state administrative tribunal will on Friday deliver its verdict on a case moved by Bengal government employees demanding the payment of dearness allowance (DA) on a par with their central government counterparts.

The tribunal had in December 2016 ruled that paying DA was the discretion of the state government, and not a fundamental right of the employees.

Two employees' federations, one backed by the CPM and another by the Congress, had moved Calcutta High Court in August 2018 against the tribunal's verdict.

The high court had ruled that DA was a fundamental right of the employees and sent the case back to the tribunal for a decision on whether the amount should be on a part with the central staff.

The tribunal assigned Justice Ranjit Bag, a former judge of Calcutta High Court, and Subesh Das, a retired IAS officer who is a member of the tribunal, to decide the matter.

The tribunal will on Friday also rule on the payment of the DA arrears of nearly 8 lakh state government employees and staff members of different aided institutions, including schools.

The tribunal will also adjudge the validity of paying DA to Bengal government employees posted outside the Calcutta High Court state, including in Delhi and Chennai.

Sources said Bengal government employees received DA at the rate of 125 per cent of the basic pay, but the amounts received by the central staff were 30 per cent more.

"While a majority of the states have followed the Centre's Seventh Pay Commission recommendations, the Bengal government did not do so," a source said.

Sources in the finance department said they were following the issue closely.

"The state government has opposed the opposed the demand as we cannot afford to spend Rs 750 crore every month to meet the additional burden…. The chief minister had said the state government wanted to clear the dues of the employees, but the repayment of past loans was preventing it," a finance department official said..