The chief minister's seven resolves for a developed Bihar moved to the implementation stage on Friday after the cabinet approved work plans and expenditure proposals for the coming fiscal.

Nitish Kumar called an urgent cabinet meeting and discussed threadbare 17 proposals related to the seven resolves, their financial implications and the time frame under which they would be fulfilled. The resolves include electrification across the state, toilets and piped drinking water to all households and 35 per cent reservation to women in government jobs.

Principal secretary, cabinet secretariat, Brajesh Mehrotra said: "The first proposal taken up at the meeting pertained to the energy department and the chief minister's resolve to provide electricity connection to every household in the rural areas. The cabinet approved the Rs 1897.5-crore implementation plan."

The money will be provided to Bihar State Power Holding Company and power connections, along with electric meters, will be provided to all rural households over the next two years. At present, free connections are being provided to below poverty line households but Nitish's resolve includes above poverty line (APL) families.

Brajesh said the cabinet sanctioned the public health engineering department's plan to spend Rs 22,164 crore over five years under the Swachh Bharat Mission (rural) to provide toilets to all households. The cabinet also approved the department's Rs 1,390-crore plan to increase encouragement amount given to non-identified APL families for construction of toilets (from Rs 4,600 to Rs 12,000) and appoint contract workers for the centrally sponsored Swachh Bharat Mission (rural) and Lohiya Swachhata Yojana, a state-government scheme.

Another decision taken by the cabinet was approval of Rs 7,439 crore for safe drinking water to fluoride- and iron-affected 21,300 habitations. It will also involve upkeep of the projects for five years by the implementing agencies.

Mehrotra said: "The cabinet has approved the scheme to provide Rs 4 lakh education loan to students who have completed Class XII and wish to pursue higher education. The money will be provided through student credit cards."

Administrative approval was accorded to the science and technology department's plan to open engineering colleges in all districts over the next five years. Rs 3,016 crore will be spent for this in the 2016-17 financial year.

As part of the seven resolves, the cabinet also approved the proposal to establish five new medical colleges and 24 paramedical training institutes in the districts for Rs 2,120 crore. Nursing colleges will be established at all the existing medical colleges at a cost of Rs 528 crore among other decisions taken.