In the chief minister’s seat for almost 18 years and 227 days holding the hands of different partners at different times, Nitish Kumar has been on an inauguration and announcement spree as the Bihar state Assembly polls draw closer.
On Monday ahead of the Election Commission’s notice on the poll schedule, Nitish Kumar inaugurated a section of the Patna Metro.
A 3.45-km-long elevated corridor, covering three stations -- Patliputra Bus Terminal, Zero Mile, and Bhoothnath, was opened as part of the "priority corridor".
Nitish also laid the foundation stones for six underground metro stations, including Patna Junction, and a 9.35-km-long tunnel connecting them, as part of corridor 1.
The inaugural stretch, part of the Blue Line, will run from the Inter-State Bus Terminal (ISBT) to Bhoothnath, covering three important stations : Patliputra ISBT, Zero Mile, and Bhoothnath.
The other promises that the Bihar chief minister has made are as follows:
Self-employment scheme for women
Nitish on Friday disbursed Rs 2,500 crore to 25 lakh beneficiaries of the ‘Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana’, raising to one crore the number of women to have received Rs 10,000 each under the self-employment scheme.
"We intend to cover, under this scheme, one woman from every family in the state. More beneficiaries will get Rs 10,000 in their accounts on October 6," the chief minister said.
"Disbursement of the money will, thereafter, continue on a weekly basis till no woman is left out. Those women whose enterprise reports success will get additional benefits of up to Rs 2 lakh," said Nitish.
125 units of free power in state
Among several promises of the Opposition was 200 units of free electricity, which the longest serving Nitish has sought to neutralise by announcing, notwithstanding his earlier anti-freebies stands, that consumers will not have to pay for 125 units in a month.
While making the announcement on Thursday Nitish said, "the people will now have to pay nothing for electricity. We will give the necessary clearance."
Increase in pension and education scheme
Nitish on Sunday announced that over 10,000 ‘Vikas Mitras’, who work in villages to make SC and ST people aware of government schemes and convert them to beneficiaries, would be given a one-time allowance of Rs 25,000 each for purchasing tablets so that they can do their work.
Their transportation allowance will also be increased from Rs 1,900 to Rs 2,500 per month, and their stationery allowance will be hiked from Rs 900 to Rs 1,500 per month.
The government has also decided to provide Rs 10,000 each to more than 30,000 Shiksha Sevaks and Talimi Markaz, who connect children belonging to Mahadalit, minorities and extremely backward communities to formal school education, for purchasing smartphones.
Earlier, the government increased pensions to senior citizens, widows and people with disability by Rs 700 per month in June.
A promise to remain loyal towards party
Nitish Kumar on March 30, admitted that he committed "mistakes" of leaving the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) twice, while assuring that it won't happen again.
During a cooperative department event at Bapu Auditorium, the CM acknowledged his past political flip-flops but declared, "I made a mistake twice, but this will not happen again."
Employment opportunities to 1 crore youths in 5 years
“For the next five years, we are setting a target to double the 2020-25 goal by providing government jobs and employment opportunities to one crore youths," Nitish Kumar said in a post on X on Sunday (July 13) morning.
"To achieve this, employment opportunities will also be created in the private sector, particularly in industrial areas. For this purpose, a high-level committee is being constituted,” he said.
In a bid to impart skill development training to connect youths with self-employment opportunities in the next five years (2025-2030), the state government will set up the Jananayak Karpuri Thakur Skill University.
"In the coming time, a skill university will be established for skill development, which will be named Jananayak Karpuri Thakur Skill University in honor of Bihar’s pride, Bharat Ratna Jananayak Karpuri Thakur ji, so that the youth of the state can find a new direction in skill development," Nitish Kumar said.
The contest
The contest for the Bihar Assembly is expected to be a triangular one, involving the ruling JDU-BJP combine, the Mahagathbandhan, and Prashant Kishor’s newbie Jan Suraj Party.
In the 243-member Assembly, the NDA currently holds 131 seats, while the Mahagathbandhan has 111.