Bengal govt unveils raft of promises, but key rollout details remain missing

The West Bengal cabinet on Monday announced a series of policy decisions, including the discontinuation of honorarium schemes for imams, muezzins and purohits, a proposed Rs 3,000 monthly assistance scheme for women, free bus travel for women and the constitution of the Seventh State Pay Commission.

However, several of the announcements made after the cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Suvendu Adhikari stopped short of spelling out implementation timelines, funding details or administrative roadmaps.

Women, child and social welfare minister Agnimitra Paul said the cabinet had approved the discontinuation of honorarium schemes introduced on the basis of religious categorisation during the erstwhile Trinamool Congress government.

“The cabinet has approved the discontinuation of schemes based on religious categorisation. A notification on this will be issued,” Paul said.

The schemes, administered through the departments of Information and Cultural Affairs and Minority Affairs and Madrasa Education, had been introduced to support the socio-economic condition of religious leaders.

She clarified that no student scholarship schemes would be discontinued.

In March this year, the Mamata Banerjee government had increased the monthly honorarium for religious leaders by Rs 500. Imams of registered mosques were receiving Rs 3,000, while muezzins and purohits were receiving Rs 2,000 each.

The cabinet also gave only in-principle approval to the BJP government’s proposed ‘Annapurna’ scheme under which women are to receive Rs 3,000 per month from June 1.

“The cabinet gave its in-principle nod to the ‘Annapurna’ scheme of Rs 3,000 monthly assistance to women from June 1. Those who are currently receiving assistance under the previous government’s Lakshmir Bhandar scheme will automatically be entitled to the Annapurna Yojana. There is no need to reapply. Money will be transferred directly to bank accounts,” Paul said.

However, the government did not specify when the scheme’s operational framework would be finalised or when disbursement would actually begin. Paul said a web portal would be launched for fresh applications from eligible beneficiaries who are not yet receiving assistance.

“Women who applied for citizenship under the CAA and those who approached tribunals for inclusion of their names in voter rolls will also be entitled to benefits under the Annapurna scheme,” the minister added.

The cabinet similarly granted only in-principle approval for free travel for women in state-run buses from 1 June. The announcement comes despite mounting operational strain on state-run transport services and without any immediate plan to increase the fleet size. Paul herself acknowledged that there were no plans at present to add more buses.

State transport corporations in Bengal have been grappling with ageing fleets, maintenance issues and buses going off the roads because of fitness certification lapses, raising questions over the system’s ability to absorb additional passenger load.

The minister also announced the constitution of the Seventh State Pay Commission for revision of salaries of government employees and staff of statutory bodies, civic bodies, local bodies, education boards and state-run educational institutions.

“The details of the commission’s structure will be notified separately,” Paul said, without indicating a timeline for submission of recommendations or implementation of revised pay scales.

The announcement appeared to fall short of the BJP’s election promise on the issue. During the Assembly campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said the new pay commission would be implemented within 45 days of the BJP government assuming office in Bengal. More than a week after the government took office, the cabinet has so far only approved the constitution of the commission, which had anyway been announced by the previous government.

Paul also confirmed that the issue of increased dearness allowance (DA) for state employees did not figure in Monday’s cabinet meeting. Once again, the previous government had implemented a DA of 4 per cent for all government employees, and it remains unclear whether that still remains on offer.

Announcing another politically significant decision, the minister said the cabinet had approved scrapping the existing OBC list in accordance with a 2024 Calcutta High Court judgment.

“The cabinet has decided on a revision of the state list of OBCs and cancellation of such categorisation of classes and percentage of reservation for OBCs in services and posts under the Government of West Bengal, as per the judgment of a division bench of the Calcutta High Court on May 22, 2024,” Paul said.

She added that the state would constitute a panel to determine eligibility for reservation under the OBC category.

The controversy over Bengal’s OBC list centres on the inclusion of 77 communities — 75 of them Muslim — in the Other Backward Classes category during the TMC regime.

The Calcutta High Court had struck down the notification and invalidated nearly 5 lakh caste certificates issued by the state since 2010, triggering a major political and legal controversy over reservation policy in the state.

With PTI inputs