West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's allegations that the state government employees, who had secured jobs "illegally" during the previous Left Front regime, are protesting against pending dearness allowance (DA) arrears are baseless, the joint forum of state government employees said here on Thursday.

While addressing a gathering at her sit-in demonstration against the Centre over non-payment of dues on Wednesday, Mamata Banerjee claimed that those who secured jobs during the previous regime by virtue of recommendations made on pieces of paper by the ruling party leaders were holding agitations over dearness allowance.

"Why should I take advice from them? They are all thieves and dacoits. Moreover, goons associated with the BJP are now making tall claims in the matter," she said.

This morning, the office-bearers of the joint forum of state government employees - the umbrella organisation spearheading the movement on the DA issue -, rubbished the allegation as baseless and expressed outrage against the chief minister comparing the DA agitators with thieves and dacoits.

"What she alleged is totally baseless. Will she be able to prove her allegations? If she can, we on behalf of the state government employees, will be felicitating her. If she cannot, she will have to face the repercussions," said the joint forum convener Bhaskar Ghosh.

A woman protester said that had she got the job illegally, she would have sat in the dais of Trinamool Congress instead of joining those agitating in demand of their legitimate dues.

"Everyone is aware of the kind of irregularities in recruitments that have taken place during the current regime. The chief minister often takes pride in receiving national and international accolades for state government projects. She is forgetting that those accolades would not have come unless the state government employees had given their full effort to make those projects. Now the state government is not only depriving those employees of their legitimate dues but also branding them as thieves," the demonstrator said.
(NS/IANS)