16 March (TSP Bangla) – West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday announced the release of long-pending dearness allowance (DA) arrears for state government employees and a sharp increase in honorariums for Hindu priests and Muslim clerics, just hours before the model code of conduct for the Assembly elections came into force.
At 2.40pm, the chief minister declared a fourfold hike in the monthly honorarium for purohits and muezzins-from ₹500 to ₹2,000. Shortly after, at 3.05pm, she announced that state employees would begin receiving their DA arrears from this month. However, she said the details would be governed by notifications issued by the state finance department, which had not been made public till late evening.
At 4pm, the Election Commission formally notified the Assembly elections in West Bengal, bringing the model code of conduct into effect and barring any fresh announcements of welfare benefits or financial incentives.
Senior officials said it remained unclear whether the DA announcement would have violated the model code, as the Supreme Court had already directed the state on February 5 to clear dues accumulated between 2008 and 2019, with the first instalment to be paid by March 31.
Officials suggested the timing of the announcements may have been politically significant, aimed at reassuring lakhs of state government employees ahead of the polls. The ruling Trinamool Congress has faced discontent among employees over delays in DA payments, while the BJP has been actively courting this section.
The issue gained further traction after Union home minister Amit Shah recently said in South 24-Parganas that a BJP government in Bengal would clear all DA dues within 45 days of coming to power and implement the 7th Pay Commission.
Government employees play a crucial role during elections, especially in managing polling booths, making their sentiment politically important.
In a post on X, Banerjee said employees would start receiving their DA arrears from March 2026 as per the modalities outlined in finance department notifications. However, in the absence of these notifications, employees remain uncertain about the amount to be disbursed or the number of instalments.
Sources in the finance department said a court-appointed three-member committee, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice Indu Malhotra, had finalised the modalities for the payment.
Leaders of employee groups, however, linked the announcement to electoral pressure. Bhaskar Ghosh of the Sangrami Joutha Mancha said the government had resisted paying the dues for years and only acted after prolonged legal battles and ahead of fresh court proceedings.
State government employees have been fighting for nearly seven years across multiple legal forums—from the state administrative tribunal to the Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court—to secure their DA arrears.
Earlier in the day, Banerjee also announced that all pending applications from purohits and muezzins for honorariums had been approved by the state government.
