Huge financial benefits to Govt employees in Bengal

Kolkata, 26 July (HS): Ensuring a major financial benefit to more than six lakh state government employees and meeting their long standing demand, the State Administrative Tribunal(SAT) today directed the West Bengal government to clear the entire dues of Dearness Allowances(DA) of these employees within one year either through direct payment or by contributing similar amount to their Provident Fund accounts and that too at the Central rate.

After several years of dilly dallying by the state government in clearing the long standing financial dues of such a large number of state government employees in the form of DA at the rate of Central Government employees, the two member Bench of SAT comprising Justice Kripasindhu Das and Justice Suresh Bag who concluded the long hearing on the issue on 18 June, in their judgement here today said that within the next one year the entire dues of DA and that too at the rate for central government employees, must be met by the state government within the next one year.

If the government find it difficult to generate the necessary fund and pay the employees in cash, they could clear the dues by making payment directly to the employees’ respective Provident Fund Accounts so that the benefits for the same could be enjoyed even after their retirement from service, both the judges in their judgement  stated.

It was also the responsibility of the West Bengal state administration to form a separate law on how to clear the dues and make payment for the benefits of their own employees, the judges stated further and also made it clear that the entire process must be completed before the implementation of the 6th pay Commission recommendations.

Also expressing their strong reservations at the alleged failure of the Bengal government in not clearing  payment of the due DA amount to its employees regularly since 2011 for various reasons, SAT also directed them to form a clear cut policy to ensure that the dues were being paid at the rate currently being received by the Central government employees.

Meanwhile,welcoming the judgement of SAT, leaders of different state government employees unions said it had open a new vista  for the state government employees in terms of receiving a much higher rate of DA  and that too at par with the Central rates.

But at the same time they also expressed serious apprehension in the capacity of the state government in clearing their dues in due course of time in view of its alleged financial constraints as the money involved in the whole exercise would run in to several crores of rupees.

‘We wonder when we would actually be considered as the beneficiaries of such a forward looking judgement’,Makhanlal Roy, a spokesman of the State Government Employees Association told Hindusthan Samachar after the judgement.