- विज्ञापन -
Kolkata: The West Bengal finance department has begun investigating ways to generate funds to settle 25% of the pending dearness allowance (DA) arrears for government employees, following a Supreme Court directive.
On Friday, the Supreme Court instructed the state government to clear a quarter of the outstanding DA dues within four weeks. According to sources in the finance department, the state has limited options but is likely to meet the deadline through internal reallocations—mainly by reducing allocations for certain welfare and subsidy schemes.
A senior official, speaking anonymously, indicated that the most practical approach might be to divert funds from certain welfare programs to cover the DA arrears.
Legal experts noted that the state’s scope to challenge the order is minimal, with the only possibility being approaching a different bench of the Supreme Court, but such a plea is uncertain to be accepted, given the order was issued by a bench of equal authority.
The estimated financial burden to pay 25% of the DA arrears within four weeks is around Rs 12,000 crore or slightly less.
Officials from the finance department are reportedly doubtful whether the government’s political leadership will approve cuts to welfare schemes, especially with the upcoming assembly elections next year.
As of now, the government has not issued any official statement regarding the matter, including responses from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee or Minister of State for Finance (Independent Charge) Chandrima Bhattacharya.
Bhattacharya mentioned that only the Chief Minister would respond to the Supreme Court’s directive.
