Oppn trade unions criticise TMC govt for not paying increased

A day after the Centre announced a two per cent hike in dearness allowance for its employees, some opposition trade union bodies here today accused the TMC government of being indifferent to the woes of state government employees.

"The state government employees are facing the heat because of the policies of the TMC government. The government has money to organise festivals but they don't have money for giving DA," Moloy Mukherjee, leader of INTUC-affiliated Confederation of State Government Employees said.

Mukherjee said, "To keep the employees away from agitation, they are adopting a vindictive attitude. They are issuing arbitrary transfer orders. So we have decided to move the court."
 

The CPI(M)-backed Coordination Committee also criticised the state government.

Manoj Guha, general secretary of the Coordination Committee said, "The TMC government is indifferent to the woes of the state government employees. We will launch agitation against it," he said.

With the Centre's announcement for a DA hike, the difference between the state government and central government DA currently stood at 52 per cent.

State Education minister Partha Chatterjee, however, blamed the Centre for putting financial burden on the state.

"They (the state government employees) are facing hardship. We will mitigate it but it will take some time," Chatterjee, also TMC secretary general, said.

He said the Centre was "not releasing funds" for 40 projects and the state government has to run them.

"We may give DA by stopping projects but we want to maintain the development of the state," he said.

Panchim Banga Rajya Sarkari Karmachari Federation state convenor Dipendu Ray also defended the TMC government saying, "The Centre can raise DA but given the financial situation the Mamata Banerjee government has set up the sixth pay commission when some other states are yet to do so."

He further said the state also offered interim relief and "we are confident that it will pay our dues".

Meanwhile, State Pay Commission chairman Abhiroop Sarkar said they had sought an extension by another year due to huge pending application but declined to comment on widening of the DA gap.