The West Bengal government has issued a fresh directive that could affect lakhs of state employees. In a recent notification, the Finance Department has instructed all departments to complete the digitalisation of employees’ service records—known as the e-Service Book—within a strict deadline. While officials say the move is part of an administrative modernization drive, many employees are wondering whether the step is linked to the ongoing Dearness Allowance (DA) arrears issue.
According to the latest government order (No. 835-F(eGov), dated February 28, 2026), all state government offices must ensure that the e-Service Book for every employee is prepared and verified by March 20, 2026. The directive asks departments to complete the digitisation process within this timeframe and ensure that the information is accurately recorded in the system.
The process will be carried out in two stages involving both administrative officials and the employees themselves.
In the first stage, the officials responsible for maintaining service books—often referred to as custodians—will scan the pages of the physical service book and upload the documents to the designated digital platform.
In the second stage, employees will log in to the system and carefully enter their personal and service-related details after verifying the uploaded documents. Authorities have stressed that the information must match the original records to avoid discrepancies in future administrative processes.
Speculation Around DA Arrears
The timing of this directive has triggered widespread speculation among government employees. The move comes at a time when the long-pending Dearness Allowance (DA) dispute is under scrutiny, especially after the Supreme Court directed payment of 25% of the DA arrears in the ongoing case.
Many employees believe that the government may be compiling salary and service data in order to calculate the arrears more accurately. However, officials have clarified that there is no direct legal connection between the e-Service Book directive and the DA payment issue.
A Long-Pending Administrative Reform
In reality, the initiative to digitise service records is not new. The West Bengal government had first proposed the e-Service Book system in 2019 as part of its broader push toward e-governance.
An earlier order issued on March 25, 2019 (Order No. 1880-F(Y)) had directed departments to begin the digitalisation process. However, several offices failed to complete the task within the initial deadlines, forcing the government to extend the timeframe multiple times.
The latest notification appears to be an attempt to finally close this long-pending administrative exercise and bring all employee records into a unified digital database.
What Employees Should Do Now
Regardless of the speculation surrounding DA arrears, the directive is mandatory for all state government employees. Departments have been instructed to ensure that scanning, uploading, and data entry work is completed before March 20.
Employees have been advised to verify their service records carefully while entering details online so that their digital service book accurately reflects their employment history.
While the move is primarily aimed at improving record management and administrative efficiency, the newly created database could eventually play a role in future salary calculations, pension processing, or financial settlements, including DA-related matters.
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