Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday made a set of announcements just hours before the Election Commission was to unveil the Assembly election schedule.
In a social media post, Banerjee said the monthly honorarium for temple priests and mosque imams in the state would be increased by Rs 500. With the revision, they will receive Rs 2,000 per month. She also said all pending new applications seeking the honorarium would be approved immediately.
Separately, Banerjee announced that payments towards dearness allowance (DA) arrears would start from this month. The move follows a Supreme Court direction asking the state to pay 25% of the DA arrears by the 31st.
The West Bengal government said the DA arrears rollout would benefit government employees, pensioners, teachers, non-teaching staff, municipal and panchayat employees, and workers in government-aided institutions.
The Election Commission later clarified that the announcements did not violate the model code of conduct, as they were made before the poll schedule was declared and the code came into force.
