KOLKATA: The West Bengal government on Wednesday announced a 4% increase in dearness allowance (DA) for its employees from April 1 in the budget presented by state finance minister Chandrima Bhattacharya.
The state budget for 2025-26, pegged at `3.89 lakh crore, puts a major focus on social welfare, rural growth and infrastructure. The government has allocated funds for rural connectivity, river erosion control, and agrarian support.
Opposition parties claimed that DA was hiked keeping an eye on Assembly elections due in 2026. Bhattacharya said, “With this 4 per cent increase in DA, we are reaffirming our commitment to the welfare of our employees.” The hike would bring the total DA to 18 per cent for employees, providing them relief amid rising inflation. The total DA for employees and pensioners in the state will now stand at 42 per cent of their basic pay or pension.
Bhattacharya said West Bengal’s Gross State Domestic Product had grown by 6.8 per cent in 2024-25 against the country’s overall growth rate of 6.37 per cent. She emphasised that the state’s economy has shown “resilience” across all three sectors—agriculture, industry, and services—surpassing national figures.
“The industrial sector registered a growth of 7.3 per cent, higher than India’s 6.2 per cent, while agriculture and allied sectors grew by 4.2 per cent, compared to India’s 3.8 per cent. The services sector registered a growth rate of 7.8 per cent, surpassing India’s 7.2 per cent,” said Bhattacharya.
West Bengal’s unemployment rate was only 4.14 per cent as of January 2025 against the national rate at 7.93 per cent, Bhattacharya said, crediting this to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s “focus on job-centric growth”. “92 lakh people had been lifted out of poverty by 2021, and now the figure stands at 1.72 crore,” the finance minister said.