The BJP-led West Bengal Government, in its maiden Budget, on Monday announced 38 per cent dearness allowance for state employees, recruitment to fill one lakh vacant posts, Rs 36,000-crore outlay for women, a new AIIMS and increased MBBS seats.
The Department of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare got the maximum allocation in the Budget at Rs 52,308 crore. This includes the Rs 36,000 crore allocated for the Annapurana Yojana under which eligible women beneficiaries will get Rs 3,000 per month. Next on the allocation list is the Panchayats and Rural Development Department at Rs 51,836 crore and the School Education Department finished third with an outlay of Rs 44,948.21 crore.
Presenting the Budget, Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta said, “Our government’s mission is to restore the state’s glory and build ‘Viksit’ Bengal as part of ‘Viksit’ Bharat."
“The government is going to recruit one lakh people for various vacant posts. We will also reserve 33 per cent of the vacant posts for women candidates as well as fill 20,000 seats in the state police force," he said.
The minister said there is an urgent need to improve the state’s investment climate by reducing the ‘cost of doing business’, and that the government would bring a law to safeguard businesses from “syndicate charges" and other informal extortions.
Addressing the state Assembly, he said the BJP dispensation has inherited a debt burden of Rs 8.15 lakh crore from the previous Mamata Banerjee administration. He said all welfare schemes brought by the previous government would continue.
The state government has also decided to hike the MLA development fund from Rs 70 lakh to Rs 1 crore. On the education front, there are plans for an IIT, an IIM and an AIIMS in north Bengal.
“The first area of creation of jobs is the government sector. We have said that one lakh government jobs will be filled in this financial year. The second sector is private investment and those investing above Rs 100 crore will need not to take permission from the local level," Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said after the Budget announcement. “We have referred to re-examination of urban land ceiling for this sector. The previous government had withdrawn incentives for industries. We have reintroduced incentives and allocated Rs 5,000 crore for the purpose,” he said.
The state government also hiked pensions for the elderly, widows and persons with disabilities by Rs 500 per month. It also proposed an increase in the remuneration for para-teachers, civic volunteers and green police.
The Finance Minister said liquor shops won’t be allowed within a one-km radius of hospitals, schools and religious institutions in the state. This radius will be 500m in Kolkata, he said.
The government has allocated Rs 14,000 crore for providing jobs under VB-G RAM G scheme in the state. Rural jobs under MGNREGA have been suspended in the state since 2021.
Dasgupta also announced a new Ayush department, an increase in the number of MBBS seats by 650 and the number of post-graduate seats in medical colleges by 450. “A sum of Rs 3,000 per month will be given for unemployed youth under Bhorsa Karmasathi scheme," he said.
The BJP government also announced plans to build a second greenfield airport near Kolkata to decongest the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport and support the state’s economic growth. Dasgupta said the government would identify 1,000-1,500 acres near Kalyani in the Nadia district to build the new facility. The announcement comes at a time when the existing 2,460-acre KoIkata airport faces severe pressure from rising passenger volumes.
Minority affairs’ budget slashed
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