The 2026 budget in the West Bengal Assembly has raised hopes for state government employees. On that day, the much-awaited DA case was heard in the Supreme Court. The apex court has asked the state government employees (State Govt DA case verdict) to settle 25% of the outstanding DA by March 31. On the eve of the upcoming assembly elections, state Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya announced the formation of the Seventh Pay Commission in her budget speech, fulfilling the long-awaited expectations of government employees.

A bunch of Janmohini schemes have been announced in this budget to win the hearts of all sections of the people, from government employees to ordinary housewives and unemployed youth.

Big announcement for government employees: Seventh Pay Commission and DA

After the term of the Sixth Pay Commission ended in December 2025, the announcement of this new commission has brought relief to the employees.

This announcement has created the possibility of a radical change in the salary structure of lakhs of government employees in the state. For a long time, state government employees were getting salaries under the Sixth Pay Commission or ROPA 2019. But experts believe that this new commission was announced to keep it in line with the Eighth Pay Commission of central government employees.

As a result, DA increased from 18 percent to 22 percent from April.

Major changes in pay structure and fitment factor

The most significant aspect of the new pay commission is the plan to determine the ‘fitment factor’ in line with the central government. Currently, labor organizations and policy experts believe that the state government can consider a fitment factor of 2.91 to 3.15 to compete with the central pay structure. If the salary is revised at this rate, the salary amount received by the employees will increase by a huge amount.

Possible calculation of salary increase

If the new fitment factor is implemented, the basic pay of a general employee can increase by almost three times. Below is a possible calculation:

Current basic pay: Rs 18,000
New basic at 2.91 times fitment factor: Rs 52,380
New basic at 3.15 times fitment factor: Rs 56,700

Not only the basic pay, but also the amount of House Rent Allowance (HRA) and Dearness Allowance (DA) will increase in line with it. Overall, the state government employees are waiting to see a huge jump in the total salary figure.

Next steps

Although announced in the budget, this new pay structure is not yet effective. The commission formed in the coming days will examine all the equations and submit their recommendations to the government. However, the good news is that there is a strong possibility that the new pay structure will be effective from the previous period with ‘retrospective effect’. This announcement before the elections has instilled new enthusiasm among the employees.

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Avijit

A digital media professional with 4 years of experience, skilled in online content creation, media and information work, his goal is to regularly bring updates on government projects, scholarships and jobs to his readers.

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