The West Bengal budget 2023-24 brought major cheer for the government employees of the state as the government has increased their Dearness Allowance (DA). The West Bengal government has hiked the DA for government employees including teachers and pensioners by 3 per cent.
The DA hike announcement comes after an association of government employees on Tuesday wrote to the State Election Commission, saying they would not perform election duty in the future unless they are paid their pending DA.
Minister of state for finance (independent charge) Chandrima Bhattacharya presented the Rs 3.39-lakh crore state budget 2023-24 in the Assembly on Wednesday. Some of the major announcements in the state budget included measures to support new businesses and the manufacturing industry.
FM Bhattacharya announced that 12,500-km of rural roads will be constructed at a cost of Rs 3,000 crore while also setting aside Rs 350-crore as startup fund to extend up to Rs 5 lakh each to young entrepreneurs. She added that Bengal’s SGDP is projected to grow at 8.4 per cent. Further, the agricultural income tax on tea gardens for 2023-24 and 2024-25 will be waived.
Besides, the budget also proposes full waiver of charges on irrigation water supplied to farms. The minister also announced an additional dearness allowance of 3 per cent for state government employees.
Central government employees might also soon get to hear good news as their DA hike could also be around the corner. Last year, the Centre had announced a 3 per cent DA hike for its employees in January and then a 4 per cent hike effective July 2022. After the second hike, the DA stands at 38 per cent. Dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) are revised twice a year, effective January 1 and July 1 every year.
