WB DA Arrears: The West Bengal School Education Department has officially initiated the administrative process for disbursing the long-pending WB DA Arrears to serving and retired teachers and non-teaching staff. Officials at Bikash Bhavan are currently preparing and sending the required data files to the state Finance Department at Nabanna to facilitate the payment.
Background: Supreme Court Directive
The issue of pending dearness allowance has been a subject of prolonged legal battles between state government employees and the West Bengal government. Acting on a strict deadline set by the Supreme Court of India, the state is required to process the DA arrears covering the period from 2008 to 2019. The apex court had mandated the payment of these dues by March 31, prompting various state departments to accelerate their administrative workflows.
Current Steps for WB DA Arrears Processing
According to an official from Bikash Bhavan, the state Finance Department issued a formal directive on March 13, instructing individual departments to determine the specific modalities for releasing the WB DA Arrears. Following this order, the School Education Department began compiling the necessary files. For weeks, ambiguity regarding whether Bikash Bhavan had started the process fueled resentment among educators. However, an official confirmed on Saturday that comprehensive steps have been taken to forward the detailed employee data to Nabanna, clearing the path for the actual fund disbursement.
Reactions from Teachers and Future Actions
The delay in receiving the court-mandated dues had triggered widespread unrest, leading teachers and educational staff to observe a statewide strike on March 13. The recent progress at Bikash Bhavan has brought temporary relief to the teaching community.
Swapan Mandal, General Secretary of the Bangiya Shikshak ও Shikshakarmi Samiti, noted that since the March 13 directive, unions had been pressing the School Education Department to expedite the file transfer. He expressed satisfaction that the process is finally underway. Conversely, Sujit Das, General Secretary of the Nikhil Banga Shikshak Samiti, maintained a firm stance. He warned that if the state fails to disburse the dues by the March 31 deadline set by the Supreme Court, the union will file a contempt of court case against the government.
Latest Update
The Supreme Court of India, in its landmark judgment on February 5, 2026, declared that receiving dearness allowance is a legally enforceable right and ordered the West Bengal government to pay 25 percent of the total outstanding arrears by March 31, 2026.
To execute this, the Finance Department issued official memorandums [Memo Nos. 996-F(P2), 997-F(P2), and 998-F(P2)] on March 13, 2026, outlining the procedure for ROPA 2009 arrears.
Additionally, state employees recently received a 4 percent DA hike in the February 2026 state budget, taking the current effective DA rate to 22 percent. The prompt submission of files by the School Education Department is expected to ensure teachers receive their first WB DA Arrears installment on time.
Verified by the WBPAY.in editorial team, comprising West Bengal government employees with over 10 years of hands-on WBIFMS and state finance administration experience.
