Government employees in West Bengal are opposing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s statements regarding job losses and demands for dearness allowance (DA). The chief minister claimed that 36,000 teachers lost their jobs due to the movement of government employees, rather than a court order. She also stated that job seekers from Trinamool Congress (TMC) supporter families would not receive favours in employment due to coordination committee members being in the Public Service Commission.
In response, Biswajit Gupta Choudhury, convenor of Joutho Manch, the largest organisation representing state government employees, emphasised their demands for fair evaluation based on merit, not political connections. He clarified that the court’s decision to terminate teachers is unrelated to government employees’ actions. Choudhury expressed disapproval of the notion that TMC supporters’ families are not favoured in job placements, asserting that merit alone determines employment.
On May 4, over 25,000 government employees rallied to demand a significant increase in dearness allowance. They criticised the announced 3 percent raise by the West Bengal government, considering it insufficient compared to the 38 percent DA provided to central government employees. The employees marched from Howrah Launch Ghat to Howrah Maidan, and a delegation submitted a deputation to the competent authorities at the state secretariat.
Choudhury highlighted that the state government denies the existence of pending DA payments despite approximately 35 percent of DA being currently outstanding. He explained that the central government is expected to announce an additional 4 per cent DA, which would increase the pending DA for employees paid by the state exchequer to 39 percent.
Government employees had previously staged a successful strike on March 10, highlighting their concerns and demands to the state government.
