West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday hiked the dearness allowance (DA) for state government employees and increased the monthly honorariums for mosque muezzins and Hindu priests barely an hour before the Election Commission announced the assembly poll schedule.
“I am happy to announce that our Ma-Mati-Manush government has delivered on its promise to all its employees and pensioners, and to lakhs of teachers and non-teaching staff of our educational institutions, as well as employees/pensioners of our other grant-in-aid institutions like panchayats, municipal bodies, other local bodies, etc,” Banerjee wrote on X at 3:05 pm.
“They will start receiving their ROPA 2009 DA arrears from March 2026 onwards as per the modalities detailed out in the notifications issued by our Finance Department,” she added.
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Although the finance department did not issue an immediate notification, Sangrami Joutha Mancha — the joint platform of various organisations representing state employees, teachers and pensioners who have been carrying out an agitation for three years and have moved the Supreme Court — welcomed the announcement.
The Supreme Court recently passed an order in their favour, stating that their DA must match the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the opposition in the Bengal legislative assembly, called Banerjee’s announcement on revised DA a “desperate last-minute gimmick.”
“After years of looting the state treasury and cheating them blind, this is your desperate last-minute poll gimmick?” Adhikari wrote on X.
“Not a single paisa will actually be released. Zero accountability, zero funds, zero delivery – only empty notifications from your Finance Department to fool the people one last time. Classic TMC election drama. West Bengal is watching. This time the joke is on you Mamata Banerjee….” he added.
Addressing a rally in Bengal on March 2, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, “Government employees across India receive salaries recommended by the 7th Pay Commission. Only Bengal government employees are still under the 6th Pay Commission. If you help us win, the 7th Pay Commission will be enforced here in 45 days.”
Convenor of the Sangrami Joutha Mancha Bhaskar Ghosh said, “This is a major victory for us. It proves that an organised agitation can bring any government down to its knees.”
Before announcing the revised DA, Banerjee also announced revised monthly honorariums for muezzins of mosques and Hindu priests, from ₹1,500 to ₹2,000.
“I am pleased to announce an increase of ₹500 in the monthly honorariums extended to our purohits and muezzins, whose service sustains the spiritual and social life of our communities. With this revision, they will now receive ₹2,000 per month,” Banerjee wrote on X at 2:40 pm.
“At the same time, all fresh applications that have been duly submitted by purohits and muezzins have also been approved by the State Government. We take pride in nurturing an environment where every community and every tradition is valued and strengthened. Our endeavour remains to ensure that the custodians of our rich spiritual heritage receive the recognition and support they deserve,” she added.
Bharatiya Janata Party’s Bengal unit president Samik Bhattacharya said the hiked honorarium for muezzins and priests, which they had been demanding, will not affect the outcome of the coming polls.
“A government is always free to help people in need. We wouldn’t say a word if she had hiked the honorariums to ₹3,000. But at the end of the day these won’t affect the outcome of the polls. It has already been decided,” Bhattacharya said.
Banerjee announced a monthly honorarium of ₹1,000 and houses for priests, most of whom are Brahmins, for the first time in 2020. It triggered a debate, with the Congress, Left and BJP calling it a move to secure Hindu votes before the 2021 assembly polls.
Banerjee swept that election, winning 215 of 294 seats while the BJP secured 75. The Left and Congress could not win any seat for the first time since Independence. The allowance for priests was later increased to ₹1,500.
In 2012, a year after ousting the 34-year-old Left Front government, Banerjee announced a monthly honorarium of ₹2,500 for the imams (head clerics) of all mosques. This triggered a row, with Hindu priests demanding a similar scheme.
