Bihar CM Nitish Kumar Launches 'Mahila Samvad' Initiative for Women's Empowerment"
Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday inaugurated the ambitious ‘Mahila Samvad’ initiative via video conferencing from ‘Sankalp’, his official residence at One Anne Marg. As part of the launch, the Chief Minister also unveiled a heartfelt letter addressed to all mothers, sisters, and daughters across the state, underlining the government’s commitment to women’s empowerment.
Marking a significant step in grassroots engagement, Mr. Kumar flagged off awareness vans that will travel across all districts of Bihar. These specially branded vans will serve as mobile information hubs, spreading awareness about government schemes related to women’s welfare, and also collecting feedback and aspirations from local women in villages and hamlets.
Addressing the occasion, the Chief Minister emphasized the importance of inclusive governance and direct communication with women at the village level. “The aim of Mahila Samvad is two-fold: to inform and to involve,” he said. “Women will be encouraged to identify the most pressing problems in their communities and share their aspirations. Based on these conversations, our administration will prioritize actions accordingly.”
Under this program, senior officials will visit rural areas to engage with women in person, listen to their concerns, and ensure prompt resolution at the local level. Inputs gathered during these interactions will also feed into policy formulation at the state level, ensuring that women’s voices shape the direction of development.
Highlighting the scale of the initiative, officials said that Mahila Samvad will be held in over 70,000 locations, covering every village in Bihar. The government expects the participation of more than two crore women. Every event will feature visual presentations of past and ongoing government initiatives through short films, displayed on large TV screens mounted on the awareness vans. Nearly 600 such vans are being deployed for the outreach.
A presentation on the Mahila Samvad initiative was delivered by Lokesh Kumar Singh, Principal Secretary of the Department of Rural Development, who also welcomed the Chief Minister with a symbolic green sapling. A specially curated short film showcasing the objectives and mechanisms of the Mahila Samvad program was screened during the launch event.
The Chief Minister reiterated that the program is a direct outcome of insights gained during his ‘Pragati Yatra’, where he had instructed senior officials to personally assess the status of government schemes and resolve on-ground issues in every district. Mahila Samvad, he said, is an extension of that commitment—one that brings women to the centre of the governance conversation.
The feedback and expectations gathered from each session will be compiled and sent from block units to district-level officials. Immediate actionable matters will be directed to concerned district officers, while suggestions requiring departmental intervention will be forwarded to respective departments. Policy-level issues will be presented to the state government for consideration.
The event was attended by several key state officials, including Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, Water Resources and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary, Rural Development Minister Shravan Kumar, and Chief Secretary Amrit Lal Meena. Also present were the Chief Minister’s Principal Secretaries Deepak Kumar and Dr. S. Siddharth, Secretary Anupam Kumar, Gopal Singh, Kumar Ravi, and Jeevika CEO Himanshu Sharma. District magistrates from across Bihar joined the event via video conferencing.