Just before the assembly elections in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has made a big announcement for the employees and pensioners of the state. He said that the state government will start paying the pending Dearness Allowance (DA) from March 2026. This announcement was made some time before the election schedule was announced, due to which the discussion in the politics of the state has intensified.
What did Mamata Banerjee say on X?
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, while sharing information about this decision on social media platform X on Sunday, said that her government has kept the promise made to the employees and pensioners. He said that lakhs of people will benefit from this decision. This includes school teachers, non-teaching staff of educational institutions, employees associated with Panchayat and municipal bodies, as well as employees working in aided institutions and pensioners.
I am happy to announce that our Ma-Mati-Manush government has delivered on its promise to all its employees and pensioners, and to lakhs of teachers and non-teaching staff of our educational institutions, as well as employees/ pensioners of our other grant-in-aid institutions…
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) March 15, 2026
Mamata Banerjee said that the state government will pay the outstanding dearness allowance under the provisions of ‘ROPA 2009’. The process of this payment will be started from March 2026. For this, detailed guidelines have been issued by the state finance department, in which the entire process of payment has been decided. The government claims that this step will provide relief to a large number of government employees and retired personnel.
Bharatiya Janata Party gave a sharp reaction
However, the opposition party Bharatiya Janata Party has given a sharp reaction to this announcement. BJP leader and Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari has called it a political step taken just before the elections. He alleged that making such an announcement just before the announcement of election dates is only an attempt to influence the voters.
Suvendu Adhikari said that the state government has suddenly remembered the employees, teachers and pensioners, whereas for a long time they were demanding the outstanding DA. He claimed that the announcement of starting payment from March 2026 is only on paper and in reality the employees will not get any benefit. According to him, the state government ignored the demands of the employees for years and now this step has been taken at the time of elections.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s announcement
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, while making another announcement, also talked about increasing the monthly honorarium of the priests and muezzins of the state. He said that the government is taking care of the interests of different sections of the society and this decision has been taken accordingly.
All these announcements have been made at a time when the Model Code of Conduct comes into force after the election schedule is announced. Therefore, it is believed that this decision was taken before the implementation of the Code of Conduct, so that the government could make its plans and announcements public.
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