With election looming, Nitish sweetens deal for Bihar’s welfare workers

Ahead of the Assembly election, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday announced a ₹25,000 one-time allowance for each ‘Vikas Mitra’ to purchase tablets.

The ‘Vikas Mitras’ are village volunteers tasked with taking government schemes to people belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC) and the Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities. They are over 10,000 spread across various villages of the State.

Mr. Kumar said the ‘Vikas Mitra’ are playing a crucial role in enabling SCs and STs to avail themselves of the benefits of various development and welfare schemes.

The CM said the National Democratic Alliance government in the State is working for the upliftment of deprived sections of society by following the principle of development with justice.

“Keeping this in mind, it has been decided to provide a lump sum amount of ₹25,000 to each Vikas Mitra working under the Bihar Mahadalit Development Mission for the purchase of tablets, so that they can have convenience in storing data of beneficiaries of various welfare schemes and other tasks,” Mr. Kumar wrote on X.

He also announced an increase in the transportation allowance for ‘Vikas Mitra’ from the existing ₹1,900 to ₹2,500 per month, as well as the stationery allowance from ₹900 to ₹1,500.

The CM also allotted ₹10,000 to ‘Shiksha Sevaks’ and ‘Talimi Markaz’ — primary education volunteers — for purchasing smartphones. They are tasked to help children from the Mahadalit, Dalit, minority, and extremely backward classes in education and improve the women’s literacy rate. He said the government has also decided to increase the teaching material allowance, from ₹3,405 to ₹6,000 per centre per year.

The decisions will boost the morale of ‘Vikas Mitra’, ‘Shiksha Sevaks’ and ‘Talimi Markaz’ as they perform their duties with greater enthusiasm and dedication, he added.