Budget of development and legacy, covers every segment: Bengl CM
Describing the first BJP government’s maiden budget in West Bengal as that of development and legacy, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Monday said it covers every segment from law and order to employment generation.
He said that an over Rs 4.38 lakh crore budget proposal has been placed in the West Bengal Assembly during the day, despite a funds crunch and debt burden.
“This is a budget of ‘vikas and virasat’ (development and legacy),” Adhikari told a press conference, flanked by Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta, following presentation of the budget proposals for 2026-27.
He said that the BJP government has only been able to present a budget for the remaining eight months of the fiscal, with the previous Mamata Banerjee dispensation earlier presenting a vote on account for the first four months of 2026-27, following the April assembly polls.
“I welcome the budget placed by Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta. The way an inclusive budget has been placed within a short time after our government took over just one and a half months ago is commendable,” the CM said.
He said steps have been taken to ensure the security of the state’s citizens, including the recruitment of 20,000 police personnel and the introduction of the 112 helpline and related services to maintain law and order.
“Special importance has been given to infrastructure development, industry and the agricultural sector,” he said. Stating that one lakh new government jobs will be given this fiscal, the chief minister asserted that no political person will be part of the appointment committees for these to ensure transparency in the recruitment process.
“We will follow the UPSC process in the recruitment process; there will be no scope for irregularities in government jobs,” Adhikari said.
Recruitments in government jobs, from school teachers to municipal employees, during the previous TMC dispensation were marred by allegations of irregularities.
Pointing out that the state has a huge debt burden, the CM promised to make the state government employees’ DA at par with the central employees gradually.
He said that with Monday’s announcement of an increase in state employees’ DA by 20 per cent, the gap with central DA has come down to 22 per cent.
“The employees will receive in their bank accounts the hiked 20 per cent DA in October,” he said.
Adhikari said that the previous dispensation had insulted the employees by giving them hikes of two or three per cent in each instalment.
In another piece of good news for the state employees, he said, “I have set a target for the Seventh Pay Commission to submit its report by December, so that it can be implemented in January 2027. We will also consider setting up an Eighth Pay Commission in the 2028-29 financial year.”
Adhikari said that a good budget has been placed by the FM and his team, which does not propose a lot of debt or does not have much deficit.
“We will make up for any deficiency in the 2027-28 budget,” Adhikari said.
He said that this budget has been designed to uphold West Bengal’s heritage, culture and glory.
“Our priority in the budget is West Bengal’s security, citizens’ dignity, a fear-free atmosphere, and the revival of the state’s culture,” the CM said.
The other major issues are employment generation, industry, agriculture, education and healthcare, Adhikari said.
“To bring investment to the state, the requirement is to strengthen law and order and bring to an end extortion and cut money culture,” he said.
Adhikari said the focus will be on building infrastructure from roads to airports and sea and river ports, to facilitate the movement of both human resources and goods, including raw materials for manufacturing units.
The CM said that to stop any impediment to setting up new enterprises with an investment of above Rs 100 crore, no local body licenses will be required and all permissions will be given centrally by the state.
He said that his government is reintroducing an incentive scheme with a corpus of Rs 5,000 crore for industries, which had been discontinued by the TMC dispensation, with a focus on labour-intensive enterprises.
The chief minister said that the government will give Rs 2 per unit concession on electricity bills for farmers at present and will gradually increase such incentives.
Stating that 28 lakh women have already got the benefit of Annapurna Yojana, by which the government is giving monthly financial assistance of Rs 3,000, Adhikari said, “On July 1, another 1.05 crore beneficiaries will have the money transferred to their bank accounts.”
He said that Dasgupta has kept a provision of Rs 36,000 crore in the Budget for this purpose.
The chief minister said that 16,000 new police constables will be in service by the coming Durga Puja in October, of whom 12,000 will be in the state police and the remaining 4,000 in Kolkata Police. “We want to prioritise women’s security,” he said.
Alleging that lots of irregularities have taken place during the previous regime, the CM said even men got the benefits of women-only Lakshmir Bhandar and Widow pension.
Taking a jibe at the CPI(M)-led Left Front’s 34-year rule of West Bengal and the TMC’s 15-year rule, he said, “They did nothing except closing down industries; one party gave jobs in chits and another based on blank answer sheets.”
Claiming that West Bengal is not only the country’s cultural capital but also the spiritual capital, he said that these will be rekindled under this BJP government in the state.
He said that the government will also pay tribute to Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his 125th birth anniversary next year in a befitting manner.
West Bengal will move ahead on the path shown by Mookerjee and the ideals of Swami Vivekananda and Ramakrishna Mission.
Adhikari said that a screening of civic volunteers and village police in the state will be held due to allegations that some candidates produced false age and qualification certificates to get these jobs.
