representative image. , Photo Credit: AP
The West Bengal government on Friday issued a notification to pay Dearness Allowance (DA) at the rate of six per cent of the basic pay to employees, pensioners and family pensioners following the recommendations of March 6. pay commission.
The six per cent DA is in addition to the total three per cent hike announced in December 2020 (for implementation on January 1, 2021) and similar hikes announced recently.
The notification states that “DA will be calculated after taking into account the revised basic pay and non-practicing allowance, if any, but will not include any other type of pay.”
“DA shall be admissible to teaching and non-teaching employees of Government aided institutions as well as to employees of local bodies. It shall be the responsibility of the pension disbursing authority to calculate the quantum of dearness relief on the revised pension and in each individual case family pension payable in,” the notification said.
A state government employee said that even after this hike, they would be 32 per cent less than the DA given by the central government to its employees.
Several organizations of state government employees are agitating demanding DA parity with the Centre. Earlier this week, they staged a 48-hour ‘pen down’ agitation, ignoring warnings of action.