West Bengal government presents first full state budget 2026-27
New Delhi, Jun 22, 2026 : In a major employment and welfare push, the West Bengal government has announced the recruitment of 1 lakh vacant posts across various state departments in its first full state budget 2026-27. Presented today by Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta, 33 percentage of these new positions will be reserved for women, with specific allocations including 50,000 posts for teachers and educational staff alongside 20,000 appointments within the police department. To further support job seekers, the government is extending the existing five-year relaxation in the upper age limit for another two years and has introduced a 10 percent job reservation for Agniveers where applicable.
The Budget also provided major relief to state government employees and pensioners. Dearness Allowance for state employees has been increased by 20 percentage points, taking the total DA to 38 per cent with effect from the first of October this year. Pensioners will also receive a similar 20 percentage point increase in Dearness Relief. The monthly honorarium of Civic Volunteers, Home Guards, Green Police personnel and NVM workers has been enhanced by two thousand rupees.
On the welfare front, the government has earmarked 36 thousand crore rupees for the Annapurna Scheme. A new allowance, Sangrami Bhata, has also been introduced for individuals who allegedly faced false politically motivated cases because of their political beliefs. To strengthen local development initiatives, the MLA Local Area Development Fund has been increased from 70 lakh rupees to one crore rupees per constituency.
In the infrastructure sector, the state government has proposed a new greenfield airport for the Kolkata region near Kalyani and plans to identify between one thousand and fifteen hundred acres of land for the project. Regional airports have also been proposed in Purulia, Balurghat and Malda.
The Budget further proposes handing over 25 acres of land to the Hasimara Air Force Station and 37 acres to the Kalaikunda Air Force Station to facilitate expansion and development of the two key defence facilities.