With Upcoming Polls In Mind, Nitish Disburses Enhanced Pension To 1.11 Cr People
Bihar government will spend Rs 1227 crore to provide enhanced monthly pension of Rs 1100 to 1.11 crore senior citizens, widows and persons with disabilities.
Published : July 11, 2025 at 2:34 PM IST
By Dev Raj
Patna: In poll-bound Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar transferred the increased monthly social security pension to the bank accounts of 1.11 crore beneficiaries on Friday at a function, in which people from all 38 districts participated digitally.
The Bihar government had hiked the monthly pension from Rs 400 to Rs 1100 for senior citizens, widows and persons with disabilities covered under various social security schemes following a cabinet decision last month. This initiative will cost Rs 1227 crore to the state exchequer.
Apart from various socio-economic benefits, the move, which came in just 17 days of the decision to enhance the pension, is also being seen as a way to appease a large section of the people in the wake of elections.
The Assembly polls are expected to be held in November this year and Nitish, heading the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the state, is on a sop-showering, scheme-announcement spree for the past two months in a bid to counter the Opposition Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance), which is also making several promises to the voters. He has been making efforts to touch every aspect of the life of the people across the state.
Since no big event could be devoid of politics in a poll-bound state, Nitish took the opportunity to take a swipe at the Opposition and stress that all development and welfare works were done by the NDA government led by him.
“My government has been here for the past 20 years. You all know whether the previous government (read Rashtriya Janata Dal government) did anything for anybody. They still keep speaking one thing or another. We did something for them for some time (formed the government with them) by mistake. They did not do anything. Everything was done by us,” Nitish said.
“We are still working. We have always been working. We (the NDA) were together since the beginning. We are not going anywhere now. I tell you firmly that we are working together, and we are not going here or there in future,” Nitish added.
Deputy chief ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, social welfare minister Madan Sahni, chief secretary Amrit Lal Meena, development commissioner Pratyaya Amrit, social welfare department secretary Bandana Preyashi and several others were also present at the pension disbursement function organised at the Chief Minister’s 1, Aney Marg official residence.
The Chief Minister asserted that he keeps reminding everybody about the help rendered by his government, otherwise nobody used to pay attention to the welfare of women earlier.
“We did so much for the women – we started by providing 50 percent reservation to them in the panchayati raj system and the urban local bodies, gave them various help to study and progress, ensured 35 percent reservation for them in the government jobs. They have progressed so much. We have worked for the people belonging to all castes and religions,” Nitish said.
The focus of the Chief Minister, who also happens to be the national president of the Janata Dal United (JDU), is understandable because he has brought several welfare schemes – be it school dress, bicycles, or scholarships for studies – for them in the past two decades, and nurtured them as a staunch part of his vote bank.
His government also started the Bihar Rural Livelihoods Project or Jeevika, in which the thrust was to empower women through livelihood-oriented self-help groups. Today there are 10.5 lakh such groups that have mobilised over 1.31 crore households in the state.
There were 54.5 percent women among the 1.11 crore beneficiaries who got the increased pension on Friday. They showered lavish praise on Nitish as he interacted with them through video-conferencing.
“I am 75 and my husband is 80. We were getting a total Rs 800 old age pension for the past 15 years. Our economic condition is quite bad and we were facing difficulty in getting even our medicines. We will now get Rs 2200 as the old age pension. It will improve our financial situation,” said Prabhavati Devi of Gopalpur panchayat in Bhojpur district.
One Amola Devi of Bodh Gaya told CM that the pension hike will allow her to live in a better way with dignity.
The Chief Minister told the audience that he decided to increase the monthly social security pension after interacting with women at a ‘Mahila Samvad’ during his statewide tour in January this year.
“I have instructed the officials to ensure that the monthly pension is provided in your bank accounts on the 10th of each month. We will provide all assistance to all of you,” Nitish said.
The Chief Minister added that his priority was to ensure that all sections and categories of people in the society avail their rights and get full honour.
In one of his latest directions, he has asked the health department officials to ensure that all the eligible people in the state get the Ayushman Bharat card, and can avail medical treatment facilities at hospitals without spending any money.
Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) is billed as the largest health assurance scheme in the world which aims at providing a health cover of Rs 5 lakhs per family per year. Over 3.75 crore Ayushman Bharat cards have been made in Bihar. Around 37 crore such cards have been made across the country, with Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra at the top three positions.
Read more
