Nitish Rains Sops At Last Cabinet Meeting Before Bihar Assembly Polls
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has approved DA hike, scholarships, unemployment aid, and key projects across sectors in a likely final cabinet meeting before elections.
By Dev Raj
Published : October 3, 2025 at 7:55 PM IST
|Updated : October 4, 2025 at 7:56 AM IST
Patna: In presumably the last meeting of his cabinet before the upcoming Assembly polls, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, on Friday, showered more sops on the people of the state, including hiking the annual scholarships for students of government schools, approving a film and theatre institute, and increasing the dearness allowance (DA) of the state government employees by three per cent.
The DA of the state government employees has been hiked from 55 per cent to 58 per cent, following the Centre’s decision to increase it for its employees earlier this week. It will cast a burden of Rs 917 crore on the state exchequer.
In other major decisions, the state cabinet approved Rs 5000 per month as a stipend to new advocates in the state for a period of three years and Rs 1000 per month as an unemployment allowance to graduate youths in the age group of 20 to 25 years for five years to help them in their search for jobs.
The cabinet meeting chaired by Nitish discussed and approved 129 agendas, which also included the implementation of announcements made by him in the last couple of weeks.
The election dates are expected to be announced in the next few days, which will usher in the model code of conduct (MCC), effectively placing a check on all government announcements.
Approving the proposal of the education department, the cabinet doubled the annual scholarships for better-performing students of all government and government-aided schools, including minority educational institutions, madrasas, and Sanskrit schools.
The students of classes I to IV will now get Rs 1200 per annum as a scholarship instead of the Rs 600 given previously. Those studying in classes V and VI will get Rs 2400 per annum instead of Rs 1200, while the boys and girls of classes VII to X will get Rs 3600 instead of Rs 1800 per annum.
The state government will bear an annual expenditure of around Rs 400 crore due to the hike in the scholarship amount.
Making the move to implement the announcement made by Nitish, the cabinet gave its nod to provide Rs 25,000 to each of the 9817 ‘Vikas Mitra’ employed under the Bihar Mahadalit Vikas Mission to purchase computer tablets to help them work efficiently.
Their transport allowance has been hiked to Rs 2500 from Rs 1900 per month, and the stationery allowance has been increased to Rs 1500 per month from Rs 900, with effect from September 1. The cabinet gave its approval to an expenditure of Rs 52 crore to implement them.
In another major decision, the cabinet gave its nod to the rules to implement the Bihar Wood-Based Industries (Establishment and Regulation) Act, 2025. It will pave the way for wood-related industries.
Approving a proposal of the tourism department, the cabinet approved the appointment of Ahmedabad-based HCP Design Planning and Management Private Limited as the principal consultant for developing the Vishnupad Temple at Gaya and the religious sites around it on the lines of the Kashi-Vishwanath Corridor in Varanasi.
The Vishnupad Temple and adjoining sites attract lakhs of Hindu pilgrims from all around the globe every year, especially during the Pitru Paksha, for performing the last rituals for departed parents, ancestors and relatives.
The cabinet also approved Nitish’s announcements to waive off the four per cent interest on the Student Credit Card scheme, in which up to Rs 4 lakh is provided to intermediate pass boys and girls to help them in higher education.
It also gave the nod to the increase in the number of instalments in which such loans could be returned.
The credit, if less than Rs 2 lakh, could be returned in 84 monthly instalments instead of 60 earlier. If the amount is more than Rs 2 lakh, it could be returned in 120 monthly instalments, instead of the previous provision to do so in 84 instalments.
The honorarium given to contractual ANM (auxiliary nurse and midwifery) workers posted in outreach sessions and model immunisation centres under the vaccination campaign in urban areas has been increased to Rs 15,000 per month from Rs 11,500 earlier. Their honorarium would be hiked by 5 per cent every year.
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