Kolkata, June 23 -- The West Bengal government on Monday announced 100,000 government jobs, doles for women, unemployed young people, journalists and students, a new greenfield airport, five new districts, and slashed the budget for minority affairs by half as it presented the first budget of the Bharatiya Janata Party government. West Bengal finance minister Swapan Dasgupta placed a Rs.4,38,775.29 crore net budget for 2026-2027 at the legislative assembly, saying the state's first BJP government "envisions a state that is prosperous yet compassionate, modern yet rooted in tradition, globally competitive yet locally inclusive." Highlights of the budget- which chief minister Suvendu Adhikari later described as "not a full budget but only for eight months"-included a promise of 100,000 government jobs, allocation of Rs.36,000 crore for Annapurna Yojna (the monthly financial assistance of Rs.3000 for women), and increased pay for state bus conductors, civic police personnel, home guards, ASHA workers, forest guards, Anganwadi workers and National Volunteer Force (NVF) personnel. It also included a 20% hike in the dearness allowance (DA) for all state employees and teachers and it increased the local area development fund for legislators from Rs.70 lakh to Rs.1 crore, among other measures. The hiked DA, which now stands at 38%, will be effective starting October 1, 2026 and 33% of the government jobs would be reserved for women. In addition, the government would continue all social welfare schemes started by previous administrations, Dasgupta said. "Of these 100,000 vacancies, 20,000 will be for police, 50,000 for teachers/professors and non-teaching staff, 1,000 for the Eastern Frontier Rifles and the remainder from other government vacancies. Ten per cent of the vacancies will be reserved for Agniveer wherever applicable. The upper age limit for recruitment for government posts has already been relaxed by five years. This benefit will be for the next two years," Dasgupta said. He said that Bengal was saddled with debt and central assistance will play a crucial role. "Our government has inherited a massive debt of Rs.8,15,891 crore as a legacy. This is potentially a crippling debt. However, with the support of the Government of India and fiscal reforms, we will try to put it on a sustainable path," he said. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) was enlisted to service mid-day meals in schools where the organisation has a presence. "ISKCON will be given charge of mid-day meals. You may not say Hare Krishna if you don't want but the meal will be nutritious. I can assure you of that," the chief minister told the media after the budget was presented before the public. Compared to the interim budget for 2026-27 presented by the then outgoing TMC government in February, the total expenditure increased by Rs.32,691 crore or 8.3% in the full budget presented on Monday....