Civic Volunteer Bonus Hiked Before Elections West Bengal Government Issues Order EC Seeks Report

Civic Volunteer Bonus: Good news for the civic and village police volunteers of the state. The state government has issued the final notification regarding the hike in their annual ad-hoc bonus. However, as soon as the news of this implementation surfaced, the Election Commission swung into action.

Moves Before the Election Announcement

Generally, once the election dates are announced across the country, the Model Code of Conduct comes into effect. During this period, the government cannot announce any new financial benefits or allowance hikes. Keeping this rule in mind, the state government took several major steps just before the election schedule was released. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had announced an increase in the monthly allowance for priests and muezzins from ₹1,500 to ₹2,000. Simultaneously, the clearing of pending Dearness Allowance was also announced. In this context, the Finance Department had issued an initial notification regarding the civic volunteers’ bonus hike on February 27.

Details of the Bonus Hike

According to the recent directive from the Home and Hill Affairs Department, all civic volunteers working under the West Bengal Police and Kolkata Police will now receive the ad-hoc bonus at an increased rate.

• Previous Amount: In the last financial year, the bonus amount was ₹6,800.
• New Amount: It has now been increased by roughly ₹600, bringing the total to ₹7,400.

Village Police Volunteers will also receive the same financial benefit. This revised rate is being implemented following the recommendation of the Audit Branch of the Finance Department and with the final approval of the Governor. The necessary expenditure for this will be borne from the designated government funds.

Election Commission’s Strict Vigil

Although announced earlier, the issuance of this fresh notification has caught the attention of the Election Commission of India. To investigate how the administration released this order during the election season, the Commission has already sought a detailed report from Nabanna, the state secretariat. The entire situation is being closely monitored.