West Bengal budget: Mamata govt unveils dole for unemployed, raises women's wage

The West Bengal government on Thursday (February 5) tabled its interim budget for the 2026-27 financial year in the state Assembly worth Rs 4.06 lakh crore, where it announced to launch a scheme to provide unemployed youths a monthly allowance of Rs 1,500 for up to five years.

The decision was announced by the state’s finance minister, Chandrima Bhattacharya. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who challenged the Election Commission in the Supreme Court in New Delhi over the state's contentious Special Intensive Revision a day before, was also present in the Assembly.

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Bhattacharya said while tabling the financial policy document that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government will launch the scheme named ‘Banglar Yuva Sathi’ to provide the monthly allowance to unemployed people in the age group between 21 and 40 till they get jobs or for a period of up to five years.

The scheme will be launched on August 15, provided the ruling party returns to power in this year’s Assembly elections due in a few months.

According to the budget, the government came up with the ‘Banglar Yuva Sathi’ scheme for those who failed to find a job after passing the secondary school level. An amount of Rs 5,000 crore was earmarked for the initiative.

Currently, the state government runs a scheme called ‘Yuvasree’ for the state’s unemployed youth. Implemented in 2013 and maintained by the labour department, it gives an assistance of Rs 1,500 to the unemployed youths between 18 and 45 years of age.

Women scheme amount raised

Besides the assistance for the unemployed, the state government also proposed in the budget a monthly addition of Rs 500 under its popular 'Lakhsmir Bhandar' scheme for women beneficiaries. They would be entitled to the increased amount from this month onwards, the government announced.

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It also proposed inclusion of gig workers under its current social security schemes, such as ‘Swasthyasathi’.

Monthly allowance for social workers hiked

Monthly allowance of ASHA and Anganwadi workers, who are among the key grassroots constituencies, has also been hiked by Rs 1,000 each, Bhattacharya said.

The budget also announced a monthly raise of Rs 1,000 for civic volunteers and para teachers. Rupees 150 crore were allocated for this purpose.

In a post on X, the TMC said, hailing the budget, “Our Finance Minister Smt. Chandrima Bhattacharya announced an increase of ₹1,000 in the monthly allowance for ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers, para-teachers, and civic volunteers, reaffirming GoWB’s commitment to recognising and strengthening the frontline workforce that serves the people every day.”

State DA increased by 4 pc

The state government also gave its employees a four per cent hike in dearness allowance (DA), something that the unions had been demanding for a long time.

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Through this budget, the last before the state goes to polls, the Mamata government aims to nullify the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party’s repeated attacks against it over unemployment and alleged negligence of state employees.

(With agency inputs)