Kolkata, Dec 22 (UNI)- The members of the Sangrami Joutha Mancha (SJM) on Friday began the sit-in-dharna near ‘Nabanna’, the state secretariat here, demanding the Dearness Allowance (DA) to state government employees at par with Central government employees.
The Calcutta High Court allowed the SJM to stage dharna with condition not beyond 72 hours and maximum 300 persons at a time, official sources said.
The historic sit-in-demonstration, happening for the first time near the Nabanna at Howrah, started early today, also day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced an additional 4 percent DA hike for the state government employees with effect from January, 1, 2024.
Calcutta High Court’s single bench Judge Justice Rajshekhar Mantha allowed the SJM, a common platform of West Bengal government employees, to hold dharna near the ‘Nabanna’ with maximum of 300 heads and to wind up the same by 1600 hours on Saturday.
Advocate Bikram Banerjee, appearing for the state government employees, pleaded with the court that since TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee was allowed to sit-in-dharna near the Raj Bhawan, an area where section 144 of CrPC was imposed, then why not the SJM members be allowed to have a peaceful dharna near Nabanna, also an area where section144 of CrPC was imposed.
SJM leader Anirudha Bhattacharya said that their agitation was to press the government for various demands including the DA hike at par with the central government employees, has entered 329 days at Shahid Minar.
He said their “historic dharna” near Nabanna was to create awareness among the people to know their plight.
Bhattacharya said that despite a court order for announcing the DA, the government was not paying any heed as the Chief minister of the state claimed that DA was not mandatory.
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