Bengal government postpones DA meeting with Joint Forum to June 1

The proposed meeting between the West Bengal government and the Joint Forum of State Government Employees regarding the Dearness Allowance issue has been postponed. Earlier, discussions were expected to take place this Saturday with Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari personally scheduled to meet representatives of the Joint Forum. According to sources, the meeting will now be held on June 1 at Nabanna.

State government employees in West Bengal have been demanding Dearness Allowance at par with central government employees for several years. The dispute over DA payments had earlier reached the Supreme Court of India, which directed the state government to clear pending DA dues owed to employees.

During the legal proceedings, the then state government informed the Supreme Court about financial difficulties and sought additional time for payment. The government later proposed clearing 25 percent of the arrears accumulated between 2016 and 2029 in two phases. While some state government employees have already received portions of the dues, employees of several government-aided organisations are yet to receive payments.

Following the recent political change in West Bengal, sections of government employees have expressed hope that the prolonged DA dispute may now move toward resolution. The issue has remained one of the major concerns among state employees and pensioners over the past several years.

There had also been speculation that the BJP government’s second cabinet meeting would discuss DA and matters related to the Seventh Pay Commission. However, minister Agnimitra Paul later clarified that the issue was not discussed during the cabinet meeting. Leaders of the Joint Forum stated that they remained optimistic despite the postponement and said government employees were now looking toward the June 1 meeting for further developments on the DA issue.