Bengal Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta on Monday presented the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government’s first budget. In his budget speech, the finance minister pledged to fill up 1 lakh government vacancies in the state and said that 33 per cent of them will be reserved for women. He also said that the government will raise the Dearness Allowance (DA) by 20 per cent, bringing it to 38 per cent. The new DA will be effective from October 1, 2026. One of the biggest highlights of the budget was the allocation of Rs 36,000 crore for the women’s financial assistance scheme Annapurna Yojna. Additionally, travel on government buses will now be completely free for women in the state. To ensure this, special pink cards will be made available.
“Our govt’s mission is to restore the state’s glory, build Viksit Bengal as part of Viksit Bharat. Our govt inherited Rs 8.15 lakh crore debt as legacy…We will continue with all existing social welfare schemes,” Finance Minister said in his budget speech.
Dasgupta presented the 2026-27 budget of the government led by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, nearly two months after the BJP’s victory ended 15 years of Trinamool Congress rule in the state.
Let’s have a look at the major announcements made by the Finance Minister:
- West Bengal govt to identify 1,000 acres in Kalyani for greenfield airport to reduce passenger congestion at Kolkata airport.
- The annual MLA Local Area Development Fund has been increased from Rs 70 lakh to Rs 1 crore.
- Purulia, Balurghat, Malda to get new airports under Centre’s UDAAN scheme, Cooch Behar airport to be expanded.
- The government is to fill 20,000 police posts in the state.
- An integrated deep-sea port is to be set up at Dadanpatrabarh in Purba Medinipur.
- Govt to fill 50,000 teaching posts, raise monthly salaries of civic police, home guards, green police by Rs 2,000.
- Every sub-division in Bengal to have a women’s police station; each police station to have a women’s help desk.
- Retired journalists to get Rs 5,000 monthly pension; those who were in jail due to political reasons to get Rs 10,000 per month.
- Durga Suraksha Squads, consisting of women police personnel, will be deployed to patrol busy city areas and public places.
- The state will launch a dedicated Bengal AI Mission to promote technology, innovation and digital growth.
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