BALURGHAT: With only eight to 10 days left to disburse salary and pension, Balurghat Municipality is facing a serious financial crunch. The civic body requires around Rs 90 lakh to meet its wage and pension obligations to be disbursed within the 14th of each month, but at present, only Rs 17.53 lakh is available in the municipal fund. The shortfall has raised anxiety among municipal employees and pensioners, though the authorities have maintained that payments will be made within the stipulated time.
According to municipal sources, Balurghat Municipality currently has more than 1,300 permanent and temporary employees, along with nearly 170 pensioners. Every month, around Rs 70 lakh is spent on salaries and nearly Rs 20 lakh on pensions, drawn from a combination of government grants and the municipality’s own fund. The present municipal board assumed office on March 22, 2022, at which time the municipality’s fund reportedly stood at Rs 3.86 crore. Over time, that amount has steadily declined, leading to the present crisis.
Following the resignation of former chairman Ashok Kumar Mitra, Surajit Saha took over as chairman and the responsibility of managing the financial situation has now fallen on his shoulders.
While Opposition leaders and a section of councillors have blamed the previous leadership for the depletion of funds, the ruling board has said it is actively exploring all possible options to overcome the crisis.
BJP general secretary Bapi Sarkar alleged financial mismanagement, stating that the same ruling party was in power when the funds were available and continues to be in power now when the coffers are nearly empty, questioning how the situation deteriorated so sharply.
Chairman Surajit Saha said: “When our board came to power in 2022, the municipality had Rs 3.86 crore in its own fund. As of December 31, 2025, the amount has come down to Rs 17.53 lakh. Due to the shortage of funds, we have been facing difficulties in assisting municipal employees for some time. We are trying all possible ways to resolve the issue and hope to clear all salaries and pensions by the 10th.”
Former chairman Ashok Kumar Mitra, however, rejected the allegations and said: “The municipality’s own fund is not collected every month. It depends on annual collections. The current amount may be low now but it will increase significantly in April and May when people usually pay taxes in lump sums.”