Let DA agitators bring funds stuck in Delhi: Mamata Banerjee

Agitators have been demanding dearness allowance on par with central government employees who get 42 per cent

The sit-in demonstration for the higher DA by state government employees near the Saheed Minar in Calcutta on March 30

Arkamoy Datta Majumdar And Tapas Ghosh, TT, Calcutta, 16.05.23: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday reiterated her claim that it was not mandatory for the administration to give dearness allowance to its employees before rebuking state government employees for their movement demanding DA on a par with their central counterparts.

“One lakh fifteen thousand crore rupees of my (government) are stuck in Delhi. Let them bring it. I’m giving them 3 per cent DA now and will give them 3 per cent more. That is what I can do.... You do a government service and get a salary against it. You get all facilities for it. If two to three days in a week, you are on the streets and doing rallies, people will not get the services. Isn’t it a violation of the service rule?” Mamata asked.

Sources in the state government said the chief minister had perhaps mentioned the 3 per cent DA recently announced for the state government employees.

“The state government gives 6 per cent DA to its employees. The state has given a 3 per cent hike in DA from March 1, 2023. The chief minister perhaps mentioned this hike during the news conference,” said a senior official.

The agitators have been demanding the DA on a par with the central government employees who get 42 per cent DA.

While addressing a news conference at the state secretariat, Mamata even advised them to find a job at the Union government if they were seeking DA at a higher rate.

“I am in your favour, that is why I have given you 126 per cent DA even though it was not your right, but an option. We gave you the money according to the recommendation of the sixth pay commission.... One, who works for the central government, has a separate financial policy and a separate service rule. Those who work for the state have a separate service rule. If you are so keen for higher DA, then, go and work for the central government. DA is not mandatory, (it is an) option,” she added.

Mamata had in the past said on multiple occasions that the state was not liable to pay DA to its employees. According to the chief minister, it is a choice for the administration. Her government has made the same submission to the courts —where multiple cases related to the payment of DA are being heard — in the past. However, the last ruling by Calcutta High Court recognised DA as a legal right of the employees.

The chief minister was hinting that the people behind the DA movement wished to gain political mileage from it. The 110-day-old sit-in demonstration in demand of DA by the Sangrami Joutha Mancha near the Saheed Minar has received support from all opposition political forces. The leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari has openly stood by the protestors whereas CPM MP Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya is one of the lawyers fighting their cases.

The rally by the Sangrami Joutha Mancha in Calcutta on May 6

She alleged that the members of the Left-aligned State Coordination Committee are at the helm of the recruitment boards of the state. It is these people — CPM’s stooges, as she claimed — who are stalling new recruitments in the state. According to the chief minister, the government can immediately recruit around 4 to 5 Lakh new people, but the processes are tangled in legalities.

Mamata took a jibe at a rally taken out by the Mancha on May 6 to mark the 100 days of their protest. The rally was taken out on Harish Mukherjee Road, the backyard of chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee’s home.

“If we (Trinamul) do a rally, we keep one side of the road pliable for an ambulance or hospital emergency. If it is a rally of 5 Lakh people we get it over in 30 minutes. These people got 100 men, who were walking keeping a distance of at least five meters among them... And then the road to PG Hospital, to Shambhunath Pundit Hospital, the Kalighat Fire Brigade, Harish Mukherjee Road were blocked,” she said.

Reacting to her allegations, Bhaskar Ghosh, convenor of the Mancha, said: “She or her family cannot disallow people of the state from using one particular place. The court gave us permission to take out a rally through Harish Mukherjee Road and her police asked us to do it peacefully. That is what we did,” Ghosh said.

Court nod

Justice Rajasekhar Mantha of Calcutta High Court issued an order on Monday asking the police to allow 600 candidates, seeking jobs in group D posts, to hold its rally which shall move through Harish Mukherjee Road.

The same judge had earlier allowed the employees to hold a rally on the same route. This time the rally will be held on May 17, with hurricane lights, starting at 6 pm from Saheed Minar. It will end at Kalighat crossing after passing through Harish Mukherjee Road.