Kolkata, Feb 5 (PTI) The Mamata Banerjee government unveiled on Thursday an interim budget tautly focused on the upcoming West Bengal assembly elections, augmenting the Lakshmir Bhandar allowance for women by Rs 500 and launching a Rs 1,500 monthly stipend for unemployed youth to consolidate its crucial electoral constituencies.

The opposition BJP called it "false and legally impossible to implement".

Tabled in the assembly by Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya, the vote-on-account budget was pegged at Rs 4.06 lakh crore for FY 2026-27 which Amit Mitra, the government's chief advisor on financial matters, designated as a "record hike" that signalled a major expansion in state's economy over the last decade and half.

The Rs 500 increase in the monthly grant proposed by the budget under the state's flagship Lakshmir Bhandar scheme would raise the allowance to Rs 1,500 for women from general category and to Rs 1,700 for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe women.

The enhanced payments will come into effect from February itself, ensuring that the increased amount reaches beneficiaries' bank accounts well before the polls, likely in April.

Bhattacharya proposed an additional allocation of Rs 15,000 crore for the upcoming fiscal for the assistance, covering some 2.42 crore beneficiaries and taking the total allocation for this single scheme to a whopping Rs 27,500 crore.

Faced with a sustained unemployment-cum-forced migration flak from the opposition, the government announced the launch of a new scheme, Banglar Yuva Sathi, promising a monthly allowance of Rs 1,500 to unemployed youths aged between 21 and 40 years, for a maximum period of five years or until they secure employment, whichever is earlier.

The scheme will be rolled out from August 15, if the TMC returns to power, with an allocation of Rs 5,000 crore earmarked for the fiscal.

Together, the twin announcements underline a political strategy to lock in support among women--nearly half of the state's electorate and the TMC's most dependable voter base--and unemployed youth, a segment that has emerged as a vocal and restless constituency in recent years.

Bhattacharya said the proposals reflected the government's commitment to welfare and social security even in the face of what she described as sustained financial constraints imposed by the Centre.

Widening its welfare net to include politically influential grassroots workers who form the backbone of the state's delivery machinery, other significant budget announcements included a 4 per cent DA hike for state government employees, teachers and pensioners effective April 1 and a Rs 1,000 monthly hike in honorarium for ASHA and Anganwadi workers as well as of civic volunteers, village police and green police.

The budget also proposed the constitution of the 7th Pay Commission for state employees.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, addressing a post-budget press conference, said "Our budget is pro-people, not directionless and rudderless like the Union Budget." She assered that the state had managed to expand social sector spending despite being "financially deprived" by the Centre.

Asked how her proposals stood in comparison to similar pre-poll announcements in states like Bihar, Banerjee alleged schemes in BJP-run states were masked in conditions unlike those in Bengal.

"They make announcements and then run bulldozers. Our schemes are universal, their schemes are controversial," she said.

Mitra, former finance minister, said the budget size has increased nearly 5 times from around Rs 84,000 crore in 2010-11, reflecting a scaling up of the state's economy under the present dispensation.

"The state's own tax collection has risen 5.4 times to an estimated Rs 1,18,669 crore in the current budget from Rs 21,129 crore in 2010-11, while the nominal Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) is projected to grow four times over the same period," he said.

Highlighting capital expenditure as a key indicator of development, Mitra said capital outlay has increased 18.5 times to around Rs 43,000 crore from Rs 2,226 crore in 2010-11. Over 45 per cent of the state's capital expenditure is now directed towards asset creation, converting borrowed funds into infrastructure and social assets.

Allocations for social services have increased 11 times, while spending on physical infrastructure has gone up tenfold compared to 2010 levels, Mitra said.

"The fiscal deficit is on track to reduce to 2.91 per cent from 4.24 per cent, a decline of about 32 per cent, while the revenue deficit has been brought down from 3.75 per cent to 1.01 per cent and is aimed at nearing zero," he said.

The state's debt as a percentage of GSDP has also declined to 37.98 per cent from 40.75 per cent, he said.

Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, however, slammed the interim budget, calling it a "false and aimless document" filled with election-oriented promises that are legally impossible to implement.

He said that most announcements were misleading as they cannot be executed once the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) comes into force for the state polls.

"After publication of the final voter list, the MCC can be enforced at any moment. Under the MCC, the government cannot increase financial benefits or expand the number of beneficiaries," Adhikari said.

He asserted that promises slated for implementation from April were "nothing but deception".

He said that if his party is voted to power, a committee will examine the possibility of hiking the 'Lakshmir Bhandar' aid to Rs 3,000 per month. PTI PNT SMY BSM MNB NN SMY NN