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In first budget, Bengal's BJP govt announces DA hike for employees, 1 lakh recruitments
Jun-22-2026

The BJP government in West Bengal presented its maiden budget, announcing the filling of 1 lakh government vacancies, a 20 percentage point hike in DA for its employees, and a Rs 36,000-crore outlay for the financial assistance scheme for women, Annapurna Yojana.

Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta said his government has inherited a debt burden of Rs 8.15 lakh crore from the previous administration, asserting that restoring fiscal discipline and public confidence in governance would be among his priorities. Dasgupta said ‘Building a corruption-free administrative structure is a cornerstone of our vision. We have to restore people's trust in governance’.

Swapan Dasgupta announced that the dearness allowance of state government employees and the dearness relief for pensioners would be raised by 20 percentage points from October 1, taking the total DA to 38 per cent. It would narrow the gap between the DA for state government employees and their central government counterparts by 22 percentage points. He added that the budget had been framed with the objective of building a ‘modern, progressive and developed Bengal’ in line with the vision of a ‘Viksit Bharat’.

Projecting employment generation as a key pillar of the new government's agenda, Dasgupta announced that 1 lakh vacancies, including 20,000 posts in the police and 50,000 teaching and non-teaching positions in schools, would be filled in phases. He said 33% of the jobs would be reserved for women, while 10% reservation would be provided for Agniveers wherever applicable. Dasgupta said all existing social welfare schemes would continue.

Dasgupta further announced an allocation of Rs 36,000 crore for the Annapurna Yojana, under which women in the 25-60 age group will receive direct financial assistance in their bank accounts. The budget also earmarked Rs 550 crore for free bus travel for women and announced the introduction of a ‘Pink Card’ system for availing the benefit.

The budget also proposed a monthly pension of Rs 5,000 for retired journalists and Rs 10,000 for persons who had spent time in jail due to what the government described as politically motivated or false cases. Among welfare measures, the government announced a monthly hike of Rs 5,000 for anganwadi and ASHA workers.

On the sports front, the government announced a Sports University, an international-standard stadium in north Bengal and mini indoor stadiums at a cost of Rs 5 crore. Clubs participating in national games will receive assistance of Rs 1 crore each, while Rs 20 crore has been earmarked for Khelo India activities in the state.

The government also increased allocations for the 125-day VB G-Ram-G scheme and announced the addition of 25 lakh new beneficiaries.


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