Kolkata, May 16 (UNI) Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari on Friday welcomed the Supreme Court directive to the state government to pay 25 percent Dearness Allowance (DA) arrears to the government employees within three months and demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Adhikari demanded the CM's resignation after the top court held that the DA is a right of the employees.
The Supreme Court, in its interim order on Friday, directed the West Bengal government to pay 25 percent DA to state government employees.
The interim order was passed by a bench comprising Justices Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Mehta, with a timeline of three months for compliance.
The case has been listed for further hearing in August.
" I welcome the direction given by the Supreme Court to the West Bengal Government, for immediately releasing 25 pc of the DA arrears to its employees," Adhikari said on his X handle.
He said this is a huge victory for all the government employees, who have been persistently fighting against the " unreasonable and hard-hearted state government for a long time, knocking on the doors of the tribunals to the top court.
He said the BJP affiliate 'Karmachari Parishad' (union of nationalist WB Govt Employees) led from the front in this legal battle.
" Congratulations to the members and officials for this sweet victory over the oppressive Mamata Government. I would also like to express my heartfelt gratitude to senior advocate Paramjit Singh Patwalia, eminent lawyer Bansuri Swaraj, and other advocates who appeared for the WB State Government Employees, for their relentless efforts inside the Courtroom," Adhikari maintained.
He said, " Mamata Banerjee ( Chief Minister) had asserted that 'DA is not a right". Today's Supreme Court direction establishes that DA indeed is a right. I hope Mamata Banerjee would take the responsibility for denying the rights of lakhs of state government employees for years and tender her resignation."
The top court order came following a long-standing legal battle over DA parity with central government employees. The issue began when a group of state government employees approached the Calcutta High Court seeking DA at par with their Central counterparts, along with arrears. In May 2022, the HC ruled in favour of the employees and ordered the state government to match the central DA rates.
On this, the state challenged the decision in the apex court by filing an appeal in November 2022. Since then, the state has made marginal hikes in DA, but the increases have fallen short of bridging the gap with central government rates. The West Bengal employees get only 18 per cent, even after a 4 per cent hike added in April 2025.
UNI PC BD