Kolkata, March 13 (IANS) The ‘cease-work’ protest called by various associations representing West Bengal government employees, consolidated under the collective organisation of Sangrami Joutho Mancha (Joint Movement Forum) on Friday to express their discontent regarding the purported hesitation and inaction of the government concerning the disbursement of Dearness Allowance (DA) evoked mixed response in different state government offices throughout the state.

Although the cease-work did not affect all government offices across the state, there was a partial response in certain places. The maximum impact could be felt at different state-run and state-aided schools in the state, where the teachers also participated in the strike.

Normal functioning was also hampered at the different courts in the state, including the Calcutta High Court, as the state government employees posted there participated in the cease-work.

At the end of the day, the forum convener Bhaskar Ghosh claimed that despite active opposition from the ruling Trinamool Congress-affiliated employees’ association, who even forcefully tried to foil the cease-work at places with the police, the response to the strike had been immense.

Expressing solidarity with the cease-work call, the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, said that if the state government takes any penal action against any state government employee for participating in the cease-work, he will stand by the employee concerned.

“The cease-work call by the state government employees received a huge response. If anyone is oppressed for not attending work today, I, as the leader of the opposition, will stand by the government employees and teachers,” Adhikari said.

As per the Joint Movement Forum, the state government has provided sufficient signals to disregard the Supreme Court’s ruling from last month, which mandated the payment of 25 per cent of the DA arrears from 2008 to 2019 by March 31. Furthermore, it was instructed to adhere to a step-by-step approach, as directed by the apex court, to ensure that DA payments to employees are aligned with those of Central government staff, along with the arrears that have accumulated since 2008.

“But till now, there has been no initiative on the part of the state government even as regards payment of the 25 per cent DA arrears accrued between 2008 and 2019 by March 31. Instead, the state government has approached the apex court again, seeking time till December this year to pay 25 per cent of the DA arrears. So, we decided to go for a total cease-work today,” said Bhaskar Ghosh.

–IANS

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