DA Dilemma: Bengal Govt Scrambles for Rs 12,000 Cr as Supreme Court Orders Partial Arrears Payment

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thenews21bureau
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Kolkata: The West Bengal government is racing against time to mobilize nearly ₹12,000 crore after the Supreme Court on Friday ordered the state to pay 25% of pending dearness allowance (DA) arrears to its employees within four weeks.

The apex court’s directive has left the Mamata Banerjee-led administration with limited options, pushing the finance department to explore internal funding sources, particularly through reallocation of budgetary resources.

According to senior officials in the finance department, one of the most viable — albeit politically sensitive — options on the table is diverting funds from certain welfare schemes to fulfill the court’s mandate.

“The most feasible route appears to be curtailing funds earmarked for some welfare and dole schemes and diverting that amount to the DA payment corpus,” a top finance department official said on condition of anonymity.

With the assembly elections looming next year, however, any move to scale back welfare spending could prove politically costly. Welfare schemes have been central to the Trinamool Congress’s governance narrative and voter outreach.

Legal experts point out that the state has limited legal recourse to delay or dilute the Supreme Court’s directive. While theoretically the government could move another division bench for a review, it remains unclear if such a plea would be entertained, given that the current order comes from a bench of equal authority.

The court’s ruling comes after months of agitation by state government employees demanding their DA dues, aligning their entitlements with central government scales. The dispute over DA payments has been a flashpoint between the bureaucracy and the state for over a year.

As per reports, the estimated financial impact of paying just a quarter of the pending DA arrears stands at approximately ₹12,000 crore, a significant amount for a state already facing fiscal constraints.

So far, the state’s political leadership has remained silent. Neither Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee nor Minister of State for Finance (Independent Charge) Chandrima Bhattacharya have made public statements.

When approached by reporters, Bhattacharya said tersely, “Only the Chief Minister will respond to the Supreme Court directive.”

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