Bihar cabinet nod for anganwadi honourarium hike, 3,300 new govt posts

Patna, Sept 9 (PTI) The Bihar cabinet on Tuesday gave its approval to a slew of proposals, including increasing the honourariums of anganwadi workers, creation of 3,303 posts of revenue staffers and the construction of marriage halls in all 8,053 panchayats of the state.

The decisions assume significance with assembly polls due to be held in the state in a few months.

A meeting of the state cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, approved a proposal regarding increasing the honorariums of 1.20 lakh anganwadi workers and helpers.

With this hike, anganwadi workers will get Rs 9,000 per month, up from Rs 7,000, and helpers will receive Rs 4,000 instead of Rs 4,500.

The government will spend an additional Rs 345.19 crore for the hike, effective from September 1.

The cabinet also approved the Revenue and Land Reforms Department's proposal for the creation of 3,303 posts of 'revenue staffers'.

The decision to create the new posts was taken keeping in view the increasing number of 'jamabandi' cases, relating to the record-of-right, Additional Chief Secretary (Cabinet Secretariat) Arvind Kumar Chaudhary said.

The cabinet also sanctioned Rs 280.60 crore for the installation of CCTV cameras in 176 new police stations and maintenance of already installed CCTV cameras, he said.

The cabinet gave its nod to spend Rs 50 crore from the Bihar Contingency Fund for the construction of marriage halls in a phased manner in all 8,053 panchayats, he added.

Approval was also given to the 'Mukhya Mantri Fellowship Yojana', as part of which "experienced specialists" will be roped in to speed up the formulation and implementation of public policy at different levels, Chaudhary said.

A total of 121 fellows will be appointed under the scheme, which will be implemented by the General Administration Department and IIM-Bodh Gaya.

IIM-Bodh Gaya will award a Certificate of Public Policy and Good Governance on the completion of the two-year fellowship. A monthly stipend of Rs 1.5 lakh, Rs 1.25 lakh, Rs 1 lakh and Rs 80,000 will be given to the fellows who will be appointed to the CM's Secretariat, Dy CM's Office, and the office of the Chief Secretary and Development Commissioner, among others.

The cabinet also gave its approval for setting up LPG-based crematoriums in six cities by the Isha Foundation. These crematoriums will be set up in Patna, Gayaji, Saran, Saharsa, Bhagalpur and Begusarai. One acre of land will be given on lease for 33 years in each place for these crematoriums.

The cabinet approved the 'Jeevika Godhan Conservation and Management Scheme' for the conservation and proper management of stray cows.

The cabinet also sanctioned Rs 400 crore for payment of outstanding electricity bills of urban local bodies for 2025-26.

It also approved Rs 594.56 crore from the Bihar Contingency Fund for the payment of outstanding electricity bills of regional offices.

The payment of outstanding bills would help smooth the functioning of the office and schemes properly, Chaudhary said.

It also decided to increase the corpus of the contingency fund to Rs 31,689.50 crore for the timely implementation of various schemes. PTI PKD SOM