Irked by the pen-down strike called by state government employees agitating for payment of enhanced Dearness Allowance and arrears, the Acting Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya of the Calcutta High Court today directed both parties to sit down for a dialogue before April 17.
The pen-down strike is a part of the agitation, which entered its 70th day today and stalled work across departments and courts, the High Court observed, even though essential services remained unaffected.
Acting Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam first asked Advocate-General S.N. Mookherjee the reasons for the agitation. On being informed that it was to be pressed for payment of DA at the same levels as those for central government employees, the Acting Chief Justice wanted to know the percentage of DA that the state government employees were getting. The Advocate-General informed us that state government employees get 6 percent of their basic pay as DA compared to central government employees, who get 42 percent. He also informed the court that the state government had already moved the Supreme Court on the issue.
The Acting Chief Justice observed that this meant that the DA scale in the Tier II and Tier III cities was “very minimal”.
The Acting Chief Justice then inquired if there had been any attempt at negotiation.
A lawyer for the agitating employees told the court that today’s protest was a specific protest against “some derogatory comments made by a constitutional authority”. It may be remembered that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee recently called the state government employees “thieves and dacoits who got their jobs through improper means”. The Acting Chief Justice then directed that a dialogue be started between the two parties “without prejudice to their rights” since the matter was already before the Supreme Court. He directed that a meeting be convened before April 17 between the government, represented by the Chief Secretary and Finance Secretary, and three members representing the agitating employees.
When the Acting Chief Justice expressed his concern about the loss of productivity due to the employees’ agitation, the lawyer representing them informed him that their members had tried to work extra days and hours to make up for the loss but had to face “attacks from hooligans of the ruling party”.
CJ wanted to speak to Bikash Bhattacharya, who is the senior lawyer representing the employees.
A spokesperson for ‘Sangrami Joutho Mancha’ said that it will not deviate from the path of agitation till the dearness allowance is hiked adequately and the gap between the central and state DA is bridged. The Mancha comprises 18 state government employees’ organisations from both the left and right. The spokesperson, who was speaking to reporters at the Manch’s sit-in venue near Shahid Minar in the heart of the city, said: “We are not seeking alms. The three-percent DA hike announced by the CM, who read it from a chit in the Assembly, is like throwing alms to beggars. We want the 32 percent gap between the Central and State DAs to be bridged immediately. We want the full amount of DA.”
“We are holding the sit-in near Shahid Minar on the DA issue, but this government is ignoring the legitimate demand of the state employees. We want to be paid the same amount of DA as the central government employees and not peanuts,” he added.
