Kolkata, Feb 7 (PTI) West Bengal Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya on Monday tabled the West Bengal Appropriation Bill, 2026 in the assembly, which was later passed following an extensive debate.
Taking part in the discussion, opposition members placed several demands before the finance minister, including an increase in the MLAs’ development fund and a revision of former legislators’ pensions.
Criticising the state vote-on-account, BJP MLA Biswanath Karak said the budget had no provisions for persons with disabilities and lacked any clear, concrete planning.
Karak said while the government spoke about increasing benefits under the social welfare project ‘Lakshmir Bhandar’ scheme for women, it remained silent on the issue of dearness allowance (DA) for government employees.
He said the government should have presented a clear statement and roadmap on DA first.
He also demanded the presentation of proper development statistics, questioning how many industries had actually been set up and how many unemployed youths had found jobs, despite frequent meetings with industrialists.
The senior BJP MLA also urged the government to provide written replies to questions raised by the opposition and appealed for steps to reduce the state’s debt burden.
Voicing concern over the Ghatal Master Plan, he alleged that the Arambag subdivision had been left out and that the project was not being implemented in the intended areas, with houses being constructed on riverbeds.
He also flayed the policy of providing unemployment allowances to the youth under ‘Yuva Sathi’ scheme, claiming it discouraged people from seeking work, and accused the government of scrapping six lakh government posts at various levels.
“Had there been constructive work, we could have reviewed and supported it after coming to power,” he said, adding that the BJP would focus on development in the future.
In her reply, Bhattacharya thanked the BJP MLA for his “sarcastic remarks while not taking initiative to make the Centre release blocked central dues amounting to over Rs 1 lakh crore”.
The assembly later passed The West Bengal Appropriation (No. 1) Bill, 2026. PTI SUS ACD
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