Across West Bengal, youth line up to apply for unemployment aid

Thousands of young people across West Bengal queued up on Sunday (February 15, 2026) to fill in registration forms for the Banglar Yuva Sathi Scheme which provides an unemployment allowance of ₹1,500 per month.

The scheme was announced by the State government during the State Budget for the financial year 2026-2027, and is now being touted by the ruling Trinamool Congress as a major poll plank for the upcoming Assembly election.

Announcing the scheme on February 5, 2026, State Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said that the scheme is for anyone aged 21 to 40 years who has passed the Madhyamik examination, is unemployed, and is not covered under any government social security scheme, barring educational benefits or scholarships. Under the scheme, beneficiaries will be entitled to a monthly assistance of ₹1,500 till they get employment, or up to five years, whichever is earlier.

Preponed implementation

The State government has allocated ₹5,000 crore for the scheme in the Budget for the next financial year. Though the Budget had proposed that the scheme commence from August 15, 2026, a few days later, the government announced that scheme implementation had been preponed to February 2026.

To kick off the scheme, camps were set up in all Assembly constituencies of the State, and will operate till February 26, 2026. It is likely that the scheme’s allowance will be credited to beneficiaries before the Assembly election, scheduled in the next few months.

Throughout the State, young people — particularly men — could be seen queueing up to fill the forms for the Banglar Yuva Sathi, as most of the State’s women are already enrolled under the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme. In the State Budget, the Trinamool Congress government also increased the entitlement of Lakshmir Bhandar by ₹500. This means that entitlement for general category women has increased to ₹1,500 and to ₹1,700 for those in a reserved category.

BJP response

The move to give an unemployment allowance to young people has evoked strong reactions from Opposition parties in the State, particularly the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Questioning the need for physical camps instead of online registration, the Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly Suvendu Adhikari said that the Trinamool Congress government was not in favour of creation of jobs.

“The State government has deliberately closed job creation channels to avoid political and legal risks. We have information that the previous application lists have been destroyed,” Mr. Adhikari claimed.

Limited resources

The BJP leader added that the new Banglar Yuba Sathi would face the same fate as the Yuva Shree scheme launched in 2013 to provide allowances and jobs to 17 lakh applicants. Mr. Adhikari said that scheme had effectively been terminated, with no funds allocated since the 2017-18 financial year.

State Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said that the BJP’s criticism has no substance, adding that there is nothing wrong with a scheme to provide an unemployment allowance.

Ms. Bhattacharya said that earlier, the BJP would criticise the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme and now it is promising to increase entitlements under the scheme. “We don’t announce any initiative to stop it. Mamata Banerjee maintains all schemes in accordance with its limited resources despite the Centre having blocked the State’s dues,” she added.