The BJP-led West Bengal government on Monday announced a 20% increase in Dearness Allowance (DA) for state government employees and pensioners, taking the total DA entitlement to 38% from October 1, 2026. Announcing the decision during the state budget presentation, Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta said the move is aimed at providing additional relief to government employees amid rising living costs.
Apart from the DA increase, the government also unveiled a series of welfare and development measures. Dasgupta said the state plans to fill 1 lakh government vacancies, with one-third of the positions reserved for women.
In another announcement, the government raised the annual allocation under the MLA Local Area Development Fund from Rs 70 lakh to Rs 1 crore, giving legislators greater resources for constituency-level projects.
The budget also included provisions for retired journalists and political detainees. Retired journalists will receive a monthly pension of Rs 5,000, while journalists who were imprisoned due to political reasons will be entitled to a monthly pension of Rs 10,000.
The state government also announced the 'Bharosa' scheme for unemployed youths aged between 21 to 45 years. Under the scheme, a graduated student, who has yet to get job, would receive Rs 3,000 per month. Non- graduated students would get Rs 2,000 per month.
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