Hundreds of West Bengal government employees joined a State-wide strike called by Angrami Joutho Mancha, a rights group, over dearness allowance (DA) dues on Friday. The protesters claimed that the State government hasn’t cleared the dues despite a Supreme Court order.
The protest comes after a February 5 order by the apex Court to pay 25% of the outstanding DA to its employees by March 31. Bhaskar Ghosh, State convener of Sangrami Joutho Mancha told The Hindu that their strike was successful. “We also demanded that the 6 lakh government jobs vacant in the State be filled immediately with complete transparency. We also want the contractual workers to be made permanent,” Mr. Ghosh said.
‘Govt. threat’
Opposition parties, including the Bharatiya Janta Party and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), extended their support to the protesters. During the day, there were allegations that protesters had stopped their colleagues from entering government offices, which led to a scuffle at the Khadya Bhavan, the headquarters of the West Bengal Food and Civil Supplies Department. However, they denied the allegations and said they only offered roses to employees and requested them not to join work.
