Mamata announces DA arrears payout
Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday announced that state government employees and pensioners, along with lakhs of teachers and non-teaching staff of educational institutions and employees and pensioners of other grant-in-aid bodies such as panchayats, municipal bodies and other local authorities, will start receiving their ROPA 2009 dearness allowance (DA) arrears from March 2026 onwards.
Banerjee also announced an increase of Rs 500 in the monthly honorarium for purohits and muezzins, taking their allowance to Rs 2,000 per month.
The announcements came shortly before the Election Commission announced the schedule for the Assembly elections in West Bengal and other states.
“I am happy to announce that our Ma-Mati-Manush government has delivered on its promise to all its employees and pensioners, and to lakhs of teachers and non-teaching staff of our educational institutions, as well as employees and pensioners of our other grant-in-aid institutions like panchayats, municipal bodies and other local bodies. They will start receiving their ROPA 2009 DA arrears from March 2026 onwards,” Banerjee wrote on her social media page.
She said the modalities and schedule for the payment had been detailed in notifications issued by the state Finance Department.
The DA issue has remained a major point of contention between the state government and employee organisations for several years. The dispute reached the courts after employees demanded DA at par with central government staff and sought payment of arrears under the 2009 pay revision structure.
On February 5, the Supreme Court directed the state government to immediately clear 25 per cent of the DA dues and release the first instalment of the remainder by March 31. The state government has since approached the court seeking time until December to comply with the order. The matter is yet to come up for hearing again.
Employee organisations linked to Left-leaning groups claimed that sustained protests had forced the government’s hand.
However, the Trinamool Congress-backed state government employees’ federation welcomed the decision. Federation convener Pratap Nayek said the Chief Minister had always maintained that employees’ demands would be addressed when circumstances allowed. “This announcement demonstrates the government’s commitment,” he said.
Announcing the honorarium hike on X, Banerjee wrote: “I am pleased to announce an increase of Rs 500 in the monthly honorariums extended to our purohits and muezzins, whose service sustains the spiritual and social life of our communities. With this revision, they will now receive Rs 2,000 per month.”
She added that all fresh applications submitted by purohits and muezzins had been approved by the state government.
The honorarium scheme was introduced around September 2020 as a stipend for poor priests and other religious functionaries. The amount was initially Rs 1,000 per month and was increased by Rs 500 in late 2023, taking it to Rs 1,500 per month.
