The Bihar government has unveiled a series of welfare initiatives ahead of assembly elections, drawing accusations from the opposition that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is copying INDIA bloc promises after two decades in power.
Bihar Govt. announces Pre-Election Welfare Scheme
CM Nitish Kumar announced a one-time Rs 25,000 allowance for over 10,000 ‘Vikas Mitras’ working in villages to purchase tablets for better outreach to SC and ST communities. These workers will also receive increased transportation allowances from Rs 1,900 to Rs 2,500 monthly, with stationery allowances rising from Rs 900 to Rs 1,500.
The government allocated Rs 10,000 each to more than 30,000 Shiksha Sevaks and Talimi Markaz personnel who connect children from Mahadalit, minority, and extremely backward communities to formal education, enabling smartphone purchases for their work.
Additional measures include a Rs 5,000 clothing allowance for 16 lakh construction workers and increased honorariums for Jeevika, Anganwadi, and ASHA workers. The administration also announced 125 units of free electricity monthly, despite Kumar’s previous opposition to such subsidies.
Here’s Previous Welfare programmes:
Earlier welfare initiatives included a Rs 700 monthly pension increase for senior citizens, widows, and disabled persons in June. The chief minister transferred enhanced pensions of Rs 1,100 to 1.11 crore beneficiaries under six social security schemes in July.
The Bihar government introduced unemployment allowances of Rs 1,000 monthly for two years for graduates and Class 12 pass-outs. Under the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana, women entrepreneurs receive Rs 10,000 initially, followed by Rs 2 lakh after business assessment.
RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwary criticized these announcements, stating: “They (NDA leaders) are simply copying our welfare agendas. The youth of Bihar want to get rid of this copycat and useless government. We have a vision for Bihar.” He claimed Bihar’s youth have resolved to make RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav the next Chief Minister.
JD(U) national spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan Prasad defended the initiatives, telling PTI: “Nitish Kumar jee is a visionary leader and he has been tirelessly working for the overall development of the people of the state, including women, youth, socially weaker sections of the society.” He claimed Bihar has witnessed “tremendous infrastructural growth” with corruption-free governance.
“Recent decisions taken by the Cabinet, including providing one crore jobs and employment opportunities to the youth in the next five years, are set to make Bihar the growth engine of the East,” Prasad said.
