You may behead me but can't increase dearness allowance: Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said that the state government is not in a position to increase the dearness allowance to its employees due to acute financial crunch and accused the central government of not disbursing funds due to the state.

Mamata Banerjee has addressed opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators who are supporting the continued demand of state government employees for DA at par with central government employees. While participating in the state budget debate in the West Bengal Assembly on Monday, the CM said, “It is not possible for our government to provide another DA. I have no money. We gave another 3% DA. You can cut my head off if you're not happy with it. How much more do you need?"

Stating that the pay scales of the central and state governments are different, Mamata Banerjee said, "Today we are paying full pension here in Bengal. If we stop this, we can save Rs 20,000 crore and reduce our debt burden. He paid DA employees 1.79 crore rupees." Enumerating the benefits enjoyed by state government employees in Bengal, a top TMC official said, "We allow state government employees to visit Bangkok, Sri Lanka and other such places once in ten years. We have 40 days of leave with pay. Which other government allows so many leaves with pay?"

On February 15, state finance minister Chandrima Bhattacharya, who presented the 2023-24 budget in the Assembly, said the government would pay 3% additional DA to its current and retired civil servants, including teachers. Until now, the state gave 3% of the basic salary as money. From March 1, the revised hardship allowance came into effect based on the recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission. The announcement comes amid reports that the Center may increase the hardship allowance from the existing 38% to 42% of the basic pay of its staff and pensioners.

However, the 3% increase has not gone down well with civil servants who feel that the increase is too modest compared to the dearness allowance that central government employees get. Even after the hike, civil servants will be short of the 32% DA offered to central government employees, and if the 4% hike comes into effect, the parity will be 36%. Since January, several civil service employee organizations have been agitating and seeking DA parity with the Centre. Staff also staged a 48-hour "pen-pulling" agitation on 20 and 21 February in protest, despite being warned of disciplinary action.

Government employees threatened to walk off the job on March 10 amid speculation that the government may take disciplinary action. The BJP also supported the protesting employees' demand for pay parity.