West Bengal raises DA by 4% to 22% in interim budget; Know how it differs from Centre’s

The West Bengal government announced a 4% hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) for its employees in its interim budget presented on Thursday, February 5.

The state’s Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya announced the DA hike during the interim budget presentation.

With the hike, the DA for West Bengal state government employees will stand at 22%.

Earlier in April 2025, the state government announced a hike of 4%, increasing the allowance to 18% from 14% before.

Despite a fresh 4% hike announced in the West Bengal Interim Budget 2026, Dearness Allowance (DA) for state government employees still stands significantly lower than the DA paid to central government employees.

The gap persists primarily due to differences in pay commission structures, with West Bengal employees still covered under the 6th Pay Commission, while central government salaries and pensions are linked to the 7th Pay Commission.

As a result, DA calculations and periodic revisions at the state level lag behind those of the Centre, widening the disparity despite repeated increases by the state government.

Now, the 8th Pay Commission is underway, which is expected to result in a further DA hike for the central government employees.

Supreme Court Judgement on DA

In a landmark ruling on Thursday, the Supreme Court of India directed the West Bengal government to immediately release 25% of the outstanding Dearness Allowance (DA) arrears to its employees, emphasising that the state must act as a Model Employer.

A bench comprising Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra directed the state government to pay 25% of the outstanding DA to its employees by March 6, 2026.

“To receive dearness allowance is a legally enforceable right that has accrued in favour of the respondents-employees of the State of West Bengal. The employees of the appellant-State shall be entitled to release of arrears in accordance with this judgment for the time 2008-2019,” a PTI report quoted the bench.

The SC constituted a committee headed by former Supreme Court Justice Indu Malhotra, Justice Tilak Singh Chauhan and Justice Gautam Maghuria to oversee the process, determine the total arrear amount and a definitive payment schedule by March 6.

The first installment of the remaining 75% must be cleared by March 31, the court ruled, and a comprehensive compliance report must be submitted by April 15. The next hearing of the case is also scheduled for April 15.

The DA arrears dispute, which currently causes a 40% gap between state and central government employees, impacts nearly 12 lakh current and retired employees. The SC verdict is expected to benefit the employees, including those who retired while the litigation was pending.

Dearness allowance serves as a practical tool for the welfare state to protect its employees from the adverse impact of increasing prices, the Supreme Court said in its ruling, adding that DA is not an additional benefit but a means to maintain a minimum standard of living.

West Bengal Interim Budget 2026

The West Bengal government tabled an interim budget of ₹4.06 lakh crore for the 2026-27 financial year on Thursday, February 5. The government pegged its total expenditure for the upcoming fiscal year at ₹3.96 lakh crore, up 14.2% from the revised estimates of 2025-26.

Apart from the DA hike, the government announced an increase in the allowance for ASHA and Anganwadi workers, which has been hiked by ₹1,000. It also proposed a monthly pay hike of ₹1,000 for civic volunteers and Green Police personnel.

The government also announced that it will launch a scheme called Banglar Yuva Sathi, providing a monthly allowance of ₹1,500 to unemployed people aged 21-40 until they get jobs, or for up to 5 years.