Kolkata, February 7 On Monday, West Bengal Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya presented the West Bengal Appropriation Bill, 2026 in the assembly, which was subsequently passed after extensive debate.
During the discussion, opposition members raised several demands before the finance minister, including an increase in the MLAs' development fund and a revision of pensions for former legislators.
Criticising the state's vote-on-account, BJP MLA Biswanath Karak stated that the budget lacked provisions for persons with disabilities and lacked any clear, concrete planning.
Karak said that while the government spoke about increasing benefits under the 'Lakshmir Bhandar' scheme for women, it remained silent on the issue of Dearness Allowance (DA) for government employees.
He argued that the government should have first presented a clear statement and roadmap on DA.
He also demanded the presentation of accurate development statistics, questioning how many industries had actually been established and how many unemployed youths had found jobs, despite frequent meetings with industrialists.
The senior BJP MLA also urged the government to provide written responses to the questions raised by the opposition and appealed for measures to reduce the state's debt burden.
Expressing concern over the Ghatal Master Plan, he alleged that the Arambag subdivision had been excluded and that the project was not being implemented in the intended areas, with houses being constructed on riverbeds.
He also criticised the policy of providing unemployment allowances to youth under the 'Yuva Sathi' scheme, claiming that it discouraged people from seeking employment, 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.
