Budget to be tabled in WB Assembly on Wednesday, focus likely on social welfare, women empowerment
Kolkata (PTI): The Trinamool Congress government is all set to present on Wednesday its last full-fledged budget before the 2026 assembly elections, with a strong emphasis likely on social welfare and women empowerment.
Minister of State for Finance (independent charge) Chandrima Bhattacharya will table the state budget for the 2025-26 fiscal in the assembly in the evening.
With the elections just a year away, the Mamata Banerjee-led government is expected to roll out a host of populist measures aimed at consolidating the party's support base.
Party sources indicated that key welfare schemes such as 'Lakshmir Bhandar', a direct cash transfer programme for women, and 'Banglar Bari', a housing initiative, will receive increased allocation.
"The finance department is considering an enhancement in allowances under Lakshmir Bhandar," a senior TMC leader told PTI.
Last year, the scheme saw an additional allocation of Rs 12,000 crore, raising the monthly allowance to Rs 1,000 for general category women and Rs 1,200 for SC and ST women.
With women voters playing a crucial role in the state's electoral dynamics, the government is likely to further expand the scheme.
Apart from direct financial assistance, the budget is also expected to prioritise infrastructure development, healthcare, education, and employment generation.
A possible hike in the dearness allowance (DA) for state employees is also on the cards, sources said.
West Bengal had 3.73 crore registered women voters in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Political analysts suggested that the TMC's continued focus on women-centric welfare programmes is a strategic move to retain this crucial voter base, especially amid recent controversies such as the RG Kar hospital rape-murder case.
In the previous budget, the state saw an allocation of Rs 3.67 lakh crore, up by 8 per cent from the 2023-24 financial statements.
With an estimated Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) growth of 7.6 per cent in the 2023-24 fiscal, the government aims to position this budget as a reflection of its commitment to social welfare and economic stability.
As the assembly session convenes on Wednesday, all eyes will be on Bhattacharya's budget speech, which could set the tone for the TMC's electoral campaign ahead of 2026.
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Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
