The Mamata Banerjee government on Wednesday hiked the dearness allowance for state government employees in its Budget presentation. The move was part of the West Bengal government's allocation of Rs 3.39-lakh-crore for expenses in 2023-24. The government declared an additional dearness allowance of 3% for all its employees, including teachers and pensioners.
The Rs 3,39,162-crore Budget, which was presented in the Bengal Assembly ahead of the panchayat elections, focussed on farmers, the state's ailing tea sector, and developing the logistics hub and the entrepreneurship potential of the state. “I propose to provide a Rs 3,39,162-crore Budget for the financial year 2023-24,” Bhattacharya said in the assembly.
The West Bengal Budget, presented by Bengal Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya, would involve the formulation of a West Bengal Logistics Policy 2023 to leverage the state’s strategic position among South Asian and ASEAN nations to create a global hub for logistics. “It will streamline the sector and help Bengal to secure a strategic position in the global supply chain,” Bhattacharya was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
She also said that the Budget focused on employment and proposed to develop an industrial and economic corridor three branches — Dankuni-Haldia, Dankuni-Raghunathpur, and Dankuni-Kalyani. According to the government, the corridor "will provide better connectivity and create employment opportunity for about 1 lakh people”.
Forecasting an optimistic, higher-than-national-average GDP growth, Bhattacharya said Bengal was expected to grow at 8.4%. She said the industry's growth rate would be 7.8%.
The minister proposed to allocate a Rs 350-crore fund to extend the credit of 2 lakh young entrepreneurs up to Rs 5 lakh each.
The finance minister also announced several measures to support the tea sector and rural areas, ahead of the panchayat polls. In particular, agricultural income tax on tea gardens will be waived for the years 2023-24 and 2024-25, and 11,500 km of rural roads will be constructed under the 'Rastashree' scheme at a cost of Rs 3,000 crore. The minister believes that these investments in old and new rural roads will help to stimulate the agrarian economy.
In addition, the budget proposes a full waiver of charges on irrigation water supplied to farms and an exemption from the payment of rural employment cess. The government will also issue homestead patta for eligible tea garden workers and provide an additional dearness allowance of 3% for state government employees, including teachers and pensioners.
Furthermore, a new 'Matsyajeebi Bandhu' scheme will be launched to support the families of fishermen in the event of the untimely death of a registered fisherman aged between 18 and 60 years old. Dependents will receive a one-time grant of Rs 2 lakh.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee praised the budget, claiming that it has tried to help all sections of society, including farmers and young people. However, the opposition BJP staged a walkout from the assembly, protesting against the CM's statement after the budget speech was read out.