West Bengal Government to Hold Talks with Employees’ Bodies Over DA Issue on May 30

MP, May 25, 2026, Kolkata: Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari will reportedly hold a meeting with representatives of four state government employees’ organisations on May 30 to discuss the long-pending dearness allowance (DA) issue.

According to administrative sources, the meeting is scheduled to take place at Nabanna at around 11 am.

Invitations have been sent to Sangrami Joutha Mancha, the Confederation of Government Employees, Unity Forum and the Paschim Banga Sarkari Karmachari Parishad.

However, several employee organisations questioned why only four bodies had been invited for discussions on an issue affecting lakhs of serving and retired state employees.

Biswajit Gupta Chowdhury, a leader of the CPI(M)-backed West Bengal Coordination Committee, alleged that the state government had failed to maintain neutrality while selecting invitees.

He claimed the organisation had consistently spearheaded movements over DA, pay commission demands and other service-related issues since 2011, with many members allegedly facing arrests during earlier protests.

Bhaskar Ghosh, convener of Sangrami Joutha Mancha, defended the invitation process, saying it was entirely the government’s prerogative to decide whom to call for discussions.

He added that his platform would raise the concerns of all government employees and pensioners during the meeting.

Administrative sources indicated that the invited organisations were among those involved in prolonged legal battles over DA-related disputes.

The government is understood to be exploring ways to resolve employees’ demands while reducing the scope of continuing litigation.

The state government employees are unhappy that the new BJP dispensation did not say anything about the due DA, even though two cabinet meetings had already been held.

However, the government had announced the establishment of the seventh pay commission for the employees at the second cabinet meeting on Monday.

The employees are worried about two aspects of the DA. First, the dues between 2008 and 2019, which the Supreme Court had asked the state government to clear. The previous government cleared only a portion of it.

The second is related to the due DA since 2020, when the sixth pay commission was implemented in Bengal.