Kolkata, Mar 1 (IANS): Normal functioning at the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) was affected on Wednesday as a section of employees went on an unscheduled pen-down strike to protest against comment by city mayor and West Bengal Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Minister Firhad Hakim on the pending dearness allowance (DA) arrears to the state government employees.

On Tuesday evening, Hakim had said that any employee who is not satisfied can quit. "The state government has its own priorities. The priority should be to provide ration to those deprived of it rather than hiking the salary of a person from Rs 40,000 to Rs 60,000 a month. Since the comparison is with Central government employees, then why don't aggrieved ones join Central service," he had said.

A large section of the KMC employees went on the unscheduled strike on Wednesday protesting against the Mayor's comments. They reported on duty on Wednesday during normal hours, marked their attendance but refrained from taking up the daily assignments.

The KMC Clerks Union spear-headed the pen-down strike. They claimed that the Mayor had spoken in such a manner as if he was paying the salary from his own pocket. "The salary and DA are the legitimate rights of the employees. Had the Mayor had the courage he should have gone to the court and tell the court what he said yesterday," an agitating employee of KMC said.