A section of West Bengal government employees Wednesday clashed with the police when they tried to enter the assembly venue over payment of DA instalments by the state.
The employees, who had gathered near the downtown Esplanade area of the city, were prevented by the police from proceeding to the Assembly building, officials said.
The Kolkata Police set up barricades on the road leading to the assembly house and the employees broke them and marched towards the assembly area, where Section 144 Cr PC is in force. With the assembly now in session, the police stopped the demonstrators, rounded them up in vans and took them into preventive custody.
Some of the employees suffered minor wounds when they exchanged fisticuffs with the police personnel, the officials said. "About 42 people who participated in protests outside the Assembly demanding higher DA have been arrested," a police official said. The Bengal government pays dearness allowance at 34 per cent, which the employees say is 35 per cent lesser than that paid by the central government.
The employees' associations of the state government had moved the Calcutta High Court. The state government had moved the Supreme Court against the HC's decision directing the state government to pay dearness allowance arrears to state government employees within three months, the deadline for which has already expired. The state government maintains that it is not possible given the financial situation.
(With PTI inputs)
