How often do you find a government employee who doesn't want a hike in dearness allowance (DA)? But Kolkata resident Hiralal Burman is an exception - he refuses to accept his increased allowance to protest the poor DA hike for workers under the 100-day rural jobs scheme.

Burman, an assistant accounts officer in the Kolkata branch of the Indian Audits and Accounts department, had shot off a letter to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India last year after the central government decided to raise the dearness allowance by seven percent in July 2011.