‘No further hike in Dearness Allowance,’ says Mamata Banerjee
Kolkata: Amidst protests by a section of state government employees, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday in the Assembly said that there will be no hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) as the government ‘doesn’t have needed fund’.
“No other states offer pensions and West Bengal is the only state that offers pensions. ₹20000 crore is needed for pension. Should we stop pension? We offer several leaves to the government employees,” said Mamata.
The Chief Minister also said that the central government has the Reserve Bank of India but it is not the case with state governments.
“The pay scale of the central government employees is different from the state government. When we will have proper funds it will be thought of,” further added Mamata.
Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari visits protest site
On the other hand Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari visited the protest site and said that the state government will have to pay more DA.
It may be noted that for weeks a section of state government employees is protesting for matching DA with the central government and when three per cent more DA was announced by MoS Finance Chandrima Bhattacharya the protesting employees slammed the announcement.
Indian Secular Front (ISF) MLA Naushad Siddiqui also visited the protest site on Monday and said that he will also take part in the protest.
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