Kolkata, May 18: Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari will lead the second significant meeting of West Bengal’s new cabinet this afternoon. The agenda includes discussions on crucial sectors like finance and education.
In the finance sector, a long-standing contentious issue will be addressed. This involves providing state government employees with a dearness allowance (DA) equivalent to that of their central government counterparts, along with settling the pending dues as directed by the Supreme Court. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had promised this in their pre-election manifesto.
Sources from the state secretariat indicate that a decision on how to disburse 25% of the DA dues accumulated between 2008 and 2019 as a one-time payment is expected soon. Although the Supreme Court instructed the West Bengal government to make this one-time payment by March 31, 2026, the previous government led by Mamata Banerjee managed to evade this obligation.
In the education sector, insiders have revealed that the cabinet will discuss a policy aimed at making the admission process in government and government-aided colleges and universities fully transparent and merit-based. This initiative seeks to eliminate the influence of various political party student wings.
Following the cabinet meeting, the Chief Minister will hold an important discussion with top officials of the Border Security Force (BSF). This meeting will focus on the progress of a project to install barbed wire along the unfenced borders with neighboring Bangladesh.
Additionally, Chief Minister Adhikari will honor students who excelled in the West Bengal Board’s secondary and higher secondary examinations. The results of these exams were announced earlier this month, with the secondary results declared on May 8 and the higher secondary results on May 14.
During a video call, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari spoke with the top scorer of the higher secondary exam, Adrit Pal, and expressed his intention to recognize outstanding students. Top performers from the CBSE and ISC examinations will also be honored.
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