Mamata announces pay hike, DA arrears before polls

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday made two key announcements minutes before the Election Commission of India’s scheduled press conference to announce Assembly poll dates in five States.

At 2.40 pm, Banerjee announced a INR 500 hike in monthly honorarium for Hindu and Muslim clergy, with purohits and muezzins now to receive INR 2,000 per month. She followed this at 3.05 pm with the clearance of Dearness Allowance (DA) arrears for State Government employees and pensioners, including teachers, non-teaching staff, and workers of grant-in-aid institutions.

The arrears relate to the long-pending Revision of Pay and Allowances (ROPA) 2009, covering 2009-2019, and are expected to benefit around 12 lakh current and retired employees. The disbursement is estimated to cost the state exchequer about INR 25,000 crore. The announcements followed sustained pressure from State employees.

BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari criticised the timing, calling it a “classic TMC election drama” and alleging that “not a single paisa will actually be released…only empty notifications from your Finance Department to fool the people.”

Banerjee highlighted the government’s commitment to religious harmony, noting that the honorarium scheme for muezzins and imams was introduced in 2012, and for Hindu purohits in 2020.