Nitish launches projects worth Rs 1,298 crore in Gaya and Aurangabad, highlights development

Gaya: CM Nitish Kumar on Friday visited Gaya and Aurangabad districts of Magadh division as part of his Samriddhi Yatra and launched govt schemes worth Rs 1,298 crore in the two districts. The unveiled and inaugurated schemes pertained to a variety of development-related works, including road, health, education, irrigation, animal husbandry, fishery and social welfare.In Gaya, the CM inaugurated 453 schemes executed at a cost of Rs 367 crore. The foundation stone was also laid for 140 schemes estimated to cost Rs 377 crore. In the neighbouring Aurangabad district, the CM inaugurated 79 development projects executed at a cost of Rs 127 crore. He also laid the foundation stone for 116 schemes in Aurangabad at an estimated cost of Rs 426 crore. The important projects in Aurangabad included the establishment of a medical college, sports complex and trauma centre.

The CM, his deputy Samrat Choudhary and water resources minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary made identical speeches in Mayapur in Gaya and Munshi Bigha in Aurangabad. While Nitish and Samrat extensively compared pre-2005 Bihar with Bihar under Nitish, Vijay Kumar Choudhary pleaded for continuity after a change in govt.Listing his achievements, Nitish said besides the fast execution of development schemes, he had done enough to establish communal harmony, first by the fortification of Muslim graveyards and later by getting boundaries constructed at all temples in the state that were more than 60 years old.

Nitish specifically mentioned schemes such as Poshak Yojana and the cycle scheme for girl students, thereby furthering the cause of girls’ education, as well as incentives given to women entrepreneurs.Reeling off statistics, Nitish said in the first phase, 3.68 lakh contractual teachers were appointed and most of them have now been absorbed into govt service. Efforts are being made to absorb the remaining teachers through a process of a simple test, he added.Besides the contractual teachers, 2.66 lakh teachers have been appointed through examinations conducted by the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC), and the process for the appointment of another 45,000 teachers has been started. One crore job opportunities would be created in the next five years, he said.The deputy CM said before 2005, there were only 6,000km of roads in the state. “Now the road length in the state has gone up to 1.46 lakh km.

The size of the state budget has increased from Rs 23,000 crore in 2005 to Rs 3.5 lakh crore in the financial year 2026-27. In 2005, there were only 17 lakh electricity connections compared to 2.16 crore connections in 2026. About 90% of power consumers were getting a zero bill thanks to the 125-unit free electricity scheme introduced by the CM,” he said.Making a comparison between PM Narendra Modi and CM Nitish, Samrat said while the former envisaged electric power for every village, the latter improvised it by making it available to every household.In Aurangabad, Samrat said chemically treated Sone water had been made available to the people of Aurangabad and Sasaram for drinking purposes. He added that the North Koel irrigation project would be completed within the next six months. At the Gaya function, assembly Speaker Prem Kumar was also present.