In a pleasant news for government employees in West Bengal, the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government has announced a 3 per cent hike in dearness allowance next month onwards, news agency PTI reported Thursday. Banerjee said the state’s coffers would never run dry for its employees, adding that it is yet to receive due of Rs 85,000 crore from Centre.

The decision by the Mamata government has come months ahead of Assembly elections in the state. West Bengal is scheduled to hold Assembly polls in April/May next year. While Mamata Banerjee is seeking to retain power for the third consecutive term, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is looking to expand its hold in the eastern state after a decent performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The saffron party had won 18 seats. Mamata’s Trinamool Congress got 22 seats.

Earlier in November, the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) had announced freezing of additional allowance for executives and non-unionised supervisors of central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) drawing salaries under certain pay scales till June 30, 2021.