‘BJP and CPI(M) fueling DA agitation’

kolkata: Senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and Cabinet minister Manas Ranjan Bhunia who is the chairman of Paschim Banga Rajya Sarkari Karmachari Federation (PBRSKF) said that the movement by a section of state government employees for dearness allowance (DA) is politically motivated. He also alleged that BJP and CPI(M) are fueling the DA agitation.

He also urged the section of employees who are staging demonstrations to withdraw it as the state government would look into the matter. Bhunia said that CPI(M) has been instrumental in the whole DA agitation while the BJP and Congress have extended their support to the Left. The agitation has been taking place because of political agendas. “We never said that our government will not give the DA. We will surely do that. The government will give DA as soon as it will manage funds. Our Chief Minister has been considering the issue with utmost sincerity. After 34 years of misrule, the Mamata Banerjee government came to power when there was a huge debt burden on the state. Despite the challenges, she has been moving forward. The Chief Minister never said that the government will not give DA. We have included a basic salary with DA. The Centre has not been giving the state’s dues,” Bhunia said. Incidentally, the state government in its recent Budget announced a 3 per cent hike in DA for the government employees. But a section of employees have been staging protest demonstrations in this regard.

Bhunia earlier alleged that the coordination committee run by the left party is trying to influence a section of the government officers in the district. There were instances where people applied for a service but the Left-run coordination committee became instrumental in delaying the service mechanism.

During a recent programme, Bhunia pointed out that in some cases even government officers were found to be sitting on applications of people without uploading them on the computerised system.

This has delayed the service delivery mechanism in some cases. Bhunia held the coordination committee responsible for this. He also urged the PBRSKF members to keep a tab so that such incidents are not repeated.