Chief Minister Adhikari on 22 June said the West Bengal Budget 2026-27, tabled in the state assembly by Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta, directly addresses the state's unemployment crisis through a three-pronged strategy covering government recruitment, private investment, and self-employment. The BJP-led state government presented the budget earlier in the day in Kolkata.

The Three-Pronged Employment Strategy

Speaking at a joint press conference with Finance Minister Dasgupta, Chief Minister Adhikari outlined the three pillars of the government's jobs approach. The first is expanding state government employment through a transparent recruitment process modelled on the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) framework used in central government hiring. The second is attracting large-scale private investment to generate employment. The third is fostering self-employment by strengthening the micro and small enterprises sector.

'I have been speaking of this three-pronged strategy to address the unemployment issue for a long time. All these three aspects have been addressed in the Budget proposals tabled in the House today,' Adhikari said.

Ease of Doing Business and Investment Push

The budget proposals also prioritise improving the ease of doing business in West Bengal. A key measure is a proposed single-window clearance system for investments of ₹100 crore or above, aimed at cutting bureaucratic delays and making the state more attractive to large investors. This signals a deliberate shift toward positioning West Bengal as an investment-friendly destination under the new BJP administration.

DA Hike for State Employees and Pensioners

Among the most immediately impactful announcements is a 20-percentage-point hike in dearness allowance (DA) for state government employees and pensioners — from 18 per cent to 38 per cent. Both Adhikari and Dasgupta described this as only the first step toward bridging the long-standing gap between state and central government DA rates.

'Our next priority is to ensure that DA for state government employees and pensioners is brought at par with that of central government employees. The new state Finance Minister has taken charge only recently. He will need some time to understand the entire issue,' Adhikari said, appealing to employees for patience.

Opposition Response

Leader of the Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee said his party would not oppose the budget blindly but raised two specific concerns. He cautioned that ease-of-doing-business measures should not end up enabling crony capitalism. He also strongly objected to what he described as a steep cut in minority allocation. 'We shall fight it tooth and nail during the Budget discussion,' Banerjee said.

What to Watch Next

The budget will now go through assembly discussions, where the minority allocation cut is expected to be a flashpoint. The government's ability to operationalise the single-window investment clearance system and demonstrate transparency in UPSC-model recruitments will be closely watched as indicators of whether the three-pronged strategy moves beyond a policy statement.