Public Welfare / West Bengal to Roll Out Higher Old-Age, Widow and Disability Allowances from August 1

Kolkata, Jul 21: As promised in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Sankalp Patra (Election Manifesto) for the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly polls, the enhanced old-age, widow, and disability allowances will be available to genuine beneficiaries from August 1.

The enhanced amount will be Rs 1,500 per month as against the Rs 1,000 paid during the previous Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress regime.

A notification was issued by the West Bengal Panchayat Affairs and Rural Development Department announcing the enhanced limits under the three pension schemes under the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP).

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In the said notification, it has also been informed that the enhanced amounts will be paid to the beneficiaries with effect from April 1.

As per the government guidelines, beneficiaries of three schemes will receive additional allowance under the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme, Indira Gandhi National Widows Pension Scheme and Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme. Beneficiaries under each scheme will now get an additional Rs 500 per month. This amount will be sent directly to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries through the direct benefit transfer DBT system as before.

The state government has claimed that the additional expenditure to bear the enhanced payments under these three welfare schemes will be met from the budgetary allocations for the state panchayat affairs and rural development department for the financial year 2026-27.

Necessary instructions have been sent to the District Magistrates, district panchayat and rural development officers, concerned implementing agencies and state urban development agency to implement this order expeditiously and deliver the revised pension amount to all eligible beneficiaries within the stipulated time.

West Bengal Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta, a journalist-turned-politician, proposed to enhance the monthly pension for the elderly, widows and the especially abled by Rs 500 in his budget proposals for the financial year of 2026-27, which he tabled on the floor of the West Bengal Assembly last month, and a formal notification in the matter was issued by the state Panchayat Affairs & Rural Development Department.

(IANS)