Kolkata, March 10,2023:  Normal functioning at the different state government offices in different parts of West Bengal was affected on Friday following a strike call given by the joint forum of state government demanding payment of dearness allowance arrears.

While little less than normal attendance was reported from the state secretariat of Nabanna and Bikash Bhavan which houses the state education department, the attendance recorded at other major state government offices in Kolkata as well as in the districts were far below normal.

Stray incidents of clashes between the striking employees and those opposing it were reported from the districts like Bankura and Purulia.

The maximum impact of the strike was felt at the Calcutta High Court and the different lower courts in the state as a large section of court clerks remained abstained from duty.

Normal teaching process in different state-run educational institutions was also affected as a large number of teaching and non-teaching staff participated in the strike. In many schools, the attendance of the students was also lower compared to normal days.

West Bengal minister in charge of finance (independent charge) Chandrima Bhattacharya, however, claimed that the majority of state government has declined the strike call and attended to their duties normally.

She also said that as per the notification issued by the state finance department those who did not attend duty on Friday will be first slapped with a show-cause notice and in absence of satisfactory reply the absence will be treated as dies-non (break of service) and no salary will be admissible for that day.

Trinamool Congress’ national general secretary and party MP Abhishek Banerjee advised the striking employees to go to New Delhi and stage protest demonstrations there. “They should ask the Union government on why Rs 1.15 lakh crore of central dues are still not paid to the West Bengal government,” he said.