On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of India postponed the hearing on the dearness allowance (DA) case concerning West Bengal government employees. The division bench, comprising Justices Sanjay Karol and Manoj Misra, rescheduled the hearing for April 22.
In May 2022, the Calcutta High Court instructed the state government to grant DA to its employees at the same rate as central government employees. However, the state government challenged this decision in the Supreme Court, where the case remains unresolved.
The division bench asked the state to clarify during the next hearing why its appeal should be accepted by the apex court. Advocates Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya and Firdaus Shamim, on behalf of employees, reportedly requested the Supreme Court for an expedited hearing of the case.
They argued that the matter had not been heard for a long time and pleaded before the court to set a specific date for the hearing. The division bench then informed that it could be heard on April 22. All parties requested that the case be put on ‘top of the board’ for hearing on that day.
Meanwhile, Chandrima Bhattacharya, the minister of state for finance, announced a four per cent hike in DA for state government employees, taking it to 18 per cent, while presenting the budget speech last month.
The state government on Tuesday issued a notification stating that the revised DA would take effect from April 1. As a result, state government employees and pensioners, as well as those working in government-approved educational institutions, legislative bodies, government organizations, panchayats, municipalities, and local bodies would benefit.
However, despite the raise, there exists a gap of 35 per cent between DAs received by the state and central government employees. Following Tuesday’s notification, Left-leaning employee organisations criticised the state by highlighting the gap.
The TMC-affiliated organisation responded by accusing critics of ignoring the fact that the state increased DA even though the central government continues to withhold its financial dues.
The disparity in DA between state government employees and their central counterparts has been a longstanding issue in West Bengal since the Left Front era. However, over the past decade, the widening gap has turned into a significant concern during the TMC’s tenure.
