Kolkata, Feb 5 (IANS) The joint forum of state government employees and also Opposition parties in West Bengal on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court's verdict on the Dearness Allowance (DA). Bhaskar Ghosh, convenor of the Join Forum of State Government Employees, hailed the verdict, saying it was an outcome of their relentless protest movements, demanding pending DA from the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee government.

"It is a victory for all state government employees who have been denied their legitimate dues in form of Dearness Allowance. Today, the Supreme Court has clearly stated that the West Bengal government will now have to pay the pending DA. It is a result of our sustained movement. We have been protesting on this issue for more than 1,100 days," said Ghosh. "We would like to thank all our lawyers, organisations, Leader of Opposition in state Assembly Suvendu Adhikari and lawyer Bikash Bhattacharya for standing by us and supporting out movement. The state government without causing any further delay must abide by the order of the Supreme Court and release the DA to government employees," he added.

The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the Mamata Banerjee government to clear 25 per cent of the DA due to the state government employees by March 31. The Division Bench of Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra also ordered the state government to constitute a four-member committee to decide on the remaining 75 per cent of DA. The same Bench had in August last year reserved its judgment in the case. In an interim order passed on May 16, last year the apex court had directed the state government to pay 25 per cent of the Dearness Allowance to its employees within three months. The Mamata Banerjee government later pleaded with the SC to extend the deadline by six months, citing funds constraint.

Following today's verdict, LoP Adhikari said the SC order has secured the fundamental rights of state government employees. "The honourable Supreme Court has upheld the fundamental rights of state government employees in the DA case. Today, Mamata Banerjee has been proven wrong, as she repeatedly claimed that 'DA is not an entitlement of the employees' to evade her responsibility. Today, the country's highest court has declared that DA is a legitimate right of the employees, not a mere grant," said Adhikari in a social media post.

"After a long wait and years of struggle, state government employees are finally going to receive their rightful Dearness Allowance as per the order of the Honourable Court," added the BJP leader. Union Minister of State for Education and DoNER, Sukanta Majumdar also welcomed the DA verdict. "After a prolonged struggle marked by unwavering resolve, state government employees are finally poised to receive Dearness Allowance in accordance with their lawful entitlements, following the directive of the Supreme Court. This historic achievement stands as a testament to the unity, patience, and steadfast determination of the state’s government employees," said Majumdar. Hailing the Apex Court's order, senior CPI(M) leader Bikash Bhattacharya said, "It is a big setback for the state government. If they have any shame then they must release the pending DA without wasting much time. They have unnecessarily wasted time and money to fight this case and delay the process."

Echoing similar sentiments, state Congress leader Ashutosh Chatterjee told IANS, "Congress always supported the state government employees in their fight to seek pending DA. Today's Supreme Court verdict comes as a lesson for the Mamata Banerjee government. They must rectify their mistake." The Trinamool Congress on the other hand claimed that it is a partial victory for the state government as the Supreme Court did not ask it to pay 100 per cent DA. "Supreme Court did not order the state government to pay 100 per cent DA but just 25 per cent. It goes to show that the Supreme Court sensitively reviewed the matter. The central government despite the Supreme Court's order refused to pay the state government the pending funds for welfare projects such as MGNREGA and Awas Yojana. If the Centre pays our dues then the government will not have any financial crunch to release the DA. The BJP must be held accountable for causing complications in this regard," said Trinamool spokesperson Arup Chakraborty.

It may be recalled that since 2022 onwards there have been 18 adjournments on the issue after the Mamata Banerjee government filed an appeal against a contempt proceedings initiated by the Calcutta High Court over DA. Since April 1, 2025 the Dearness Allowance for Bengal government employees was fixed at 18 per cent of the basic salary in last year's state budget proposals. The gap between the central employees and the state is around 40 per cent.

--IANS