Nitish Kumar Cabinet in Bihar Approves Major Development Initiatives: Key Highlights of Cabinet Meeting

Bihar Cabinet under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has taken 46 important agendas in a meeting held on Tuesday. Additional Chief Secretary of the Cabinet Secretariat Dr. S. Siddharth gave detailed information to the media in the press room of Information Bhawan after the meeting.

Important decisions of CM Nitish Kumar's Cabinet Meeting:

Infrastructure development: "Mukhyamantri Gramin Setu Yojana" has been started under the Rural Works Department, which aims to improve connectivity in rural areas. Under this scheme, bridges up to 100 meters in length will be constructed by the Rural Works Department, while bridges of longer length will be built by Bihar State Bridge Construction Corporation. Along with this, amendments have been approved in the provisions of the "Mukhyamantri Gramin Sadak Unnayan Yojana", so that the work of reconstruction, upgradation and renovation of rural roads can be done in a smooth and structured manner.

Tourism: Construction of three new five-star hotels has been approved in Patna under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. These will also have shopping complexes. Sultanganj Palace will be developed as a heritage site, while the buildings of Patliputra Ashok and Bankipur will be demolished and new structures will be built. Apart from this, "Bihar Tourism Branding and Marketing Policy 2024" has also been approved.

Urban Development: Transfer of administrative powers to "Mukhyamantri Samagra Shahri Vikas Yojana" under the Urban Development and Housing Department was approved. Additionally, steering committees will be redefined at the district level, to ensure better governance and monitoring.

Agriculture: Approval was given for the formation of Directorate of Agricultural Marketing under the Fourth Agriculture Roadmap (2023-28). It aims to ensure fair price to farmers for their produce, promote storage, value addition and export. Apart from this, development of rural markets has also been planned, which will support agricultural activities.

Commerce and Taxation: "Bihar Tax Dispute Settlement Act 2024" has been extended for six months, so that ongoing tax related disputes can be resolved. Apart from this, the deadline for scrapping vehicles older than 15 years has been extended to March 31, 2026. The decision has been taken to scrap old vehicles and give exemption in pending dues.

Transport and Vehicle Rules: Various exemptions have been approved for vehicles registered in Bihar. Vehicles which have problems in registration or have road tax dues can now avail the one-time settlement option. This includes tractors, trailers and battery-operated vehicles, which can get exemption from penalty if they pay pending road tax before March 31, 2025.

Minority Welfare: Construction of two residential schools has been approved under the Bihar State Minority Residential School Scheme. A 560-bed school will be built on Khijirchak Waqf land in Begusarai district at a cost of ₹50.67 crore. Similarly, another 560-bed residential school will be built on Sirnia Waqf land in Katihar district at a cost of ₹57.17 crore. These schools aim to provide quality education and residential facilities to minority students.

Public health and engineering: To address the shortage of technical staff, the outsourcing of 350 technical supervisors for public health engineering projects has been approved. These posts will be filled up till regular appointments are made. The estimated annual expenditure for this will be ₹13.25 crore. A revised budget of ₹40.82 crore has been approved for the second phase of piped water supply project to solve the problem of fluoride-contaminated drinking water under the Jal Jeevan Mission in the Munger district.

Mental health infrastructure: ₹197.26 crore has been approved to construct a new 321-bed building at Koilwar Mental Health Facility in Bhojpur district. The scheme earlier had only 272-beds, which has now been revised to 321.

Road development: Among the road construction and upgradation projects under the Mukhyamantri Gramin Sadak Yojana are:

• Dhoria-English Mor-Asarganj road (58.473 km) will be built at an estimated cost of ₹650.50 crore, including construction of bridges and bypasses.
• Banganga-Jetian-Gahlor-Bindas road (41.256 km) is estimated to cost ₹361.32 crore.

• Ara-Ikouna-Khaira-Sahar road (32.263 km) will be built at a cost of ₹373.56 crore.
• Chhapra-Manjhi-Darauli-Ghuthni road (72.183 km) will be developed at an estimated cost of ₹701.25 crore.

Water supply schemes: The Bihar government is committed to improving water supply in rural areas. A project costing ₹75.54 crore has been approved to solve the problem of arsenic-contaminated water in 25 villages under Jal Jeevan Mission in Maner block of Patna district.

Education and health: Education and health are the focus of the government. The initial estimated amount of ₹404 crore for the construction of Bihar State Dental College and Hospital in Nalanda district has been increased to ₹597.78 crore. Procurement of equipment and expansion have also been planned.

These decisions reflect a comprehensive approach to address the challenges of infrastructure, education, health, agriculture and transport in various sectors in line with the long-term development plans of the Bihar government.