The Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government has announced a 4% hike in dearness allowance (DA) for its employees as part of the interim budget, according to a PTI report.
The DA hike announcement was made by the state’s Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya during the interim budget presentation.
The West Bengal government on Thursday, 5 February, tabled an interim budget of ₹4.06 lakh crore for the 2026-27 financial year in the state assembly ahead of state polls scheduled in less than three months, the report said.
Key highlights from the interim budget
In addition to DA, the allowance for ASHA and Anganwadi workers has been hiked by ₹1,000. The Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya also announced that the state government will launch a scheme called Banglar Yuva Sathi to provide a monthly allowance of ₹1,500 to unemployed people aged 21-40 until they get jobs, or for up to 5 years. The state government has planned to introduce the scheme on 15 August if the Trinamool Congress returns to power.
The state’s interim budget also proposed a monthly pay hike of ₹1,000 for civic volunteers and Green Police personnel, with an allocation of ₹150 crores.
SC judgment DA payment
Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court directed the West Bengal government to pay dearness allowance to its employees for the period from 2008 to 2019. The bench instructed the state government to pay 25% of the outstanding DA to its employees by 6 March.
“To receive dearness allowance is a legally enforceable right that has accrued in favor of the respondents-employees of the State of West Bengal…The employees of the appellant-State shall be entitled to release of arrears in accordance with this judgment for the time 2008-2019,” PTI quoted the bench.
The case began after some state government employees approached the Calcutta High Court, seeking DA at the same rate as their central government counterparts, along with pending arrears.
The top court said that dearness allowance serves as a practical tool for the welfare state to protect its employees from the adverse impact of increasing prices. It further added that DA is not an additional benefit but a means to maintain a minimum standard of living, the news portal noted.
