New Delhi: Employees of various departments of the West Bengal government are adamant on their decision to observe a 48-hour strike from Monday for DA parity with the central government, ignoring the government’s warning of action against them. They are also demanding corruption free appointment. Employees’ organizations of the state government, such as the ‘Sangrami Joutha Manch’ (United Struggle Forum), joined the work shutdown in various departments in the city as well as in the Writers’ Building, the new secretariat, courts, schools and other educational institutions in Siuri. , Birbhum, Medinipur, Nadia, Malda, Murshidabad, Howrah, Hooghly and other districts.
A protester said, “We are firm on our decision to stop work for regularization of dearness allowance and corruption-free appointments. We are shocked by the state government’s decision to hike DA by three per cent. We will continue our agitation.” Food and Supplies Department here
The state government has issued an order saying that the employees who stay away from work for these two days will have to face action. An official at the state secretariat ‘Nabanna’ said, “The salaries of the protesters will be lost and this pen down will be treated as a break in service. If they fail to give a satisfactory explanation for their absence from office, we will issue show cause notices.” Will do and initiate disciplinary action.” ,
The state government on February 15 announced a hike of three per cent additional DA to its employees in the budget for 2023-24 in the assembly.
“We cannot accept this hike. We are not beggars. It would be wrong for the government to think that we are. We are asking for what we want and will settle for nothing,” said a primary school teacher and activist of Sangri Joutha Manch. Pijush Kanti Roy, an activist, said several agitating workers have been on an indefinite hunger strike for almost a week under the banner of ‘Sangrami Juta Manch’ at the Shaheed Minar Maidan in the heart of the city.