Kolkata (West Bengal): The Calcutta High Court on Friday directed the West Bengal government to clear the pending dearness allowances to the state government employees within the next three months. For the past two years in a row, the state's revenue has declined due to COVID-19.
Upholding the earlier order of the state administrative tribunal (SAT) on this count, Calcutta High Court's division bench comprising of Justices Harish Tandon and Justice Rabindranath Samanta, on Friday, observed that receiving dearness allowances is the fundamental and legal right of the state government employees.
In 2016, the state government employees had filed a petition at the SAT demanding 32 percent dearness allowances as per the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission. The petition was filed by the Confederation of State Government Employees. After a prolonged legal battle, the SAT, in July 2020, had directed the state government to pay the dearness allowances to its employees in part with their counterparts in the Union government. The state government had challenged that order at the Calcutta High Court.
Finally, on Friday, the Calcutta High Court directed that payment of dearness allowances at 32 percent be cleared within the next three months. According to the Confederation of State Government Employees, Shyamal Mitra, this is a great victory for the state government employees that had come after a prolonged legal battle in two phases.
"The state government cannot hold back payment of dearness allowances anymore, and it cannot project paucity of funds as an excuse. I request Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee not to take this a prestige issue and immediately direct the payment of dearness allowances pending since July 2009," he said.
Till the report was filed there was no confirmation from the state government whether they would challenge this order in the Supreme Court or abide by the directive of the division bench of the Calcutta High Court. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee herself said that the government has "spent all the revenues and it has no money at the moment.'
The court rejected this argument. In this situation, the question is how much money will have to be paid to the workers in line with the court's order. The leader of the Confederation of State Government Employees, Malay Mukherjee, said that if the state government pays the arrears or DA, the Group D workers will have to be paid at least Rs 2 lakh, and Group C employees will be richer by Rs 3.25 lakh each. The Upper Division clerks will get Rs 4.5 lakh. "Surely, it will be a huge burden on state government. We have to see how the government will tackle this," says economist Shantanu Basu.
Meanwhile, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has about 46,000 permanent employees. of which, about 18,000 are currently employed. From engineers to employees, teachers, doctors, and workers, all have to be paid the arrears. The state government needs to cough up about Rs 500 crore to pay the arrears of dearness allowance as per the court order, added Basu.
(With Agency inputs)
