A dismayed silence among employees , teachers and other beneficiaries has greeted the announcement of a paltry 3% dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) by the chief minister Dr Manik Saha last night in the state assembly. It was widely expected that the DA and DR sanction would be at double digit in view of the deadline of 31st October set by the 16th finance commission which will not reimburse any expense on this head by the state government beyond the scheduled date. But the state government had to limit the sanction only up to 3% presumably in consideration of financial constraints that will not allow the state government to bear the expenses on DA and DR till March 31 next year as the finance commission’s awards will not be effective before April 1 2026-2027.

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