Kolkata, Feb 6 (PTI) The TMC on Friday mounted a defence of the West Bengal government's welfare-centric governance budget, asserting that sustained social spending, direct benefit transfers and farmer-focused interventions have lifted over 1.72 crore people out of poverty while sharply reducing unemployment in the state.

Addressing a press conference at Trinamool Bhavan, the party's state headquarters here, Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said the impact of the government's policies was reflected in official data, including the Centre's Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS).

Citing the survey, she said the unemployment rate among people aged 15 years and above in West Bengal had declined by around 45.65 per cent between 2017-18 and 2023-24.

Bhattacharya said West Bengal had emerged as the number one state in agricultural production and that food and health security schemes had achieved near-universal coverage.

Nearly nine crore people have been brought under the Khadya Sathi food security scheme, while 2.45 crore families are enrolled under Swasthya Sathi, covering almost the entire population, she said.

Describing West Bengal as a "welfare state", Bhattacharya said the Constitution envisaged redistribution of public resources to strengthen the economy from the grassroots.

"Through 94 welfare schemes, we are returning people's money to the people, which in turn strengthens the economy," she said.

With women and young voters firmly in focus ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections barely three months away, the TMC government on Thursday unveiled an interim budget, raising the Lakshmir Bhandar allowance by Rs 500 and announcing a Rs 1,500 monthly stipend for unemployed youth to consolidate its most critical electoral constituencies.

The vote-on-account budget pegged at Rs 4.06 lakh crore for 2026-27, tabled in the assembly on Thursday.

Placing special emphasis on farmers, the finance minister said that since 2019, Rs 27,016 crore has been directly transferred to 1.10 crore farmers under the Krishak Bandhu (Natun) scheme.

In Kharif 2025 alone, Rs 2,930 crore was disbursed, with assistance of up to Rs 10,000 per acre for larger landholdings and a minimum of Rs 4,000 for smaller plots. She said the government had also announced annual support of Rs 4,000 for landless agricultural labourers and bargadars, to be paid in two instalments during the Rabi and Kharif seasons.

To reduce the cost burden of cultivation, Bhattacharya said the state has decided to waive fees and charges on irrigation through government tubewells and RLI schemes, a move expected to save crores of rupees for lakhs of small and marginal farmers across the state.

Highlighting key announcements in the latest budget, she said the honorarium of ASHA workers and ICDS employees will be increased by Rs 1,000, along with maternity leave benefits, while the next of kin of ASHA workers dying before the age of 60 will receive a one-time compensation of Rs 5 lakh.

Bhattacharya said that although ASHA and ICDS are central schemes, the Centre's allocation remains limited, compelling the state government to bear a substantial share of the expenditure.

She added that gig workers are also being brought under the welfare framework through schemes such as Swasthya Sathi.

On the issue of dearness allowance, she said the recently announced four per cent hike would be prospective and that a committee would be formed to address the matter in accordance with a Supreme Court order.

TMC MP Partha Bhowmick said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had governed without discrimination on the basis of caste, religion or language, ensuring that welfare schemes reached all sections of society.

He contrasted the state's universal health cover scheme with the central government's Ayushman Bharat, which he said was restricted by eligibility criteria, and questioned the Centre over pending dues of more than Rs 2 lakh crore to West Bengal, including funds under MGNREGA and the Jal Jeevan Mission.

The TMC leaders maintained that the state's welfare initiatives were not election-driven but aimed at long-term social and economic stability, asserting that sustained support to farmers, women, youth and the marginalised had become the cornerstone of the Mamata Banerjee government's policy framework. PTI PNT NN