DA Arrears: Big news for government employees. Amidst assembly election 2026, Mamata Banerjee has made a major announcement to woo the people. The state government has announced that the pending dearness allowance (DA) dues under ROPA-2009 will begin to be paid from March 2026. Furthermore, she has announced an increase in the monthly honorarium paid to priests and muezzins by the state government. She shared this information in a post on her official Instagram account.
According to the government, this decision will benefit millions of state employees, pensioners, and staff associated with educational institutions, including school and college teachers, non-teaching staff, and employees of aided institutions. Mamata Banerjee says, ‘I am happy to announce that our Ma- Mati- Manush government has delivered on its promise to all its employees and pensioners, and to lakhs of teachers and non-teaching staff of our educational institutions, as well as employees/ pensioners of our other grant- in- aid instititions like panchayats, municipal bodies, other local bodies etc. They will start receiving their ROPA 2009 DA arrears from March 2026 onwards as per modalities detailed out in the Notifications issued by our Finance Department.’
The state government stated that it has fulfilled its promise to its employees and pensioners. Consequently, employees and pensioners of panchayats, municipalities, and other local bodies will also benefit from this decision. According to a notification issued by the Finance Department, the payment of DA arrears will begin in a phased manner and in a prescribed manner starting March 2026.
Detailed guidelines have also been issued for this purpose. The government says this decision will provide relief to a large number of government employees and pensioners whose DA arrears have been pending for a long time.
It’s worth noting that in West Bengal, the state’s priests and muezzins have been receiving a monthly honorarium of 500 rupees, which Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has now announced will be increased. According to her new announcement, this honorarium will now be increased from 500 rupees to 2000 rupees per month.
