West Bengal’s 2026-27 budget has unveiled a major employment and welfare push, with plans to fill 1 lakh government vacancies and a steep increase in dearness allowance (DA) for employees and pensioners.
Presenting the budget on 22 June 2026, Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta said dearness allowance for state government employees and dearness relief (DR) for pensioners will be raised by 20 percentage points from 1 October, taking the total to 38 per cent. The hike cuts the gap with the central government DA by 22 percentage points, addressing a long-pending demand from employee unions.
The recruitment plan covers 20,000 posts in the police and 50,000 teaching and non-teaching positions in schools, with the remaining roles across other departments. One-third of all vacancies will be reserved for women, and Agniveers will receive 10 per cent reservation where applicable. The existing five-year relaxation in the upper age limit for government jobs will continue for two more years.
A Rs 36,000 crore outlay has been set aside for the Annapurna Yojana, which provides direct financial assistance to women. Other measures include a Rs 5,000 monthly increment for ASHA and Anganwadi workers, Rs 1,000 more for mid-day meal cooks, and a Rs 2,000 hike for civic volunteers, village police, and green police personnel. The MLA Local Area Development Fund will rise from Rs 70 lakh to Rs 1 crore.
The finance minister shared that the state inherited a debt burden of Rs 8.15 lakh crore and reportedly stressed that restoring fiscal discipline and public confidence in governance would remain key priorities while continuing all existing welfare programmes.
