Bihar

• 07 Mar 2025

Bihar Budget 2025-26

Why in News? 

On 3rd March 2025, the Bihar Finance Minister presented a Rs 3.17 lakh crore budget in the state assembly, prioritizing education and women's empowerment. 

Key Points  

• Key provisions of the budget: 
  • The total revenue expenditure in the financial year 2025-26 is estimated at Rs 2 lakh 52 thousand crore, which is 79.52% of the total expenditure. 
  • The highest provision of Rs 60,964 crore has been made on education. 
  • A provision of Rs 20 thousand crore was made for health and Rs 17 thousand crore for roads. 
  • Rs 17831 crore has been made for the Home Department, Rs 16043 crore for Rural Development, Rs 13484 crore for the Energy Department and more than Rs 13 thousand crore for the Social Welfare Department, SC, ST, Minority, Backward, Extremely Backward. 
  • Focus on women empowerment: 
    • Construction of pink toilets . 
    • Mahila Haats will be opened in Patna . 
    • Pink bus service will start (all drivers and conductors will be women). 
    • Hostels will be built for working women . 
    • Appointment of women tourist guides . 
    • Financial assistance for purchasing e-rickshaw. 
    • Increase in the number of women police personnel. 
    • Construction of 'Kanya Vivah Mandap' for the marriage of poor girls . 
  • Education and social welfare: 
    • The rate of scholarship will be doubled. 
    • Incentive amount will be increased for SC/ST and backward classes. 
  • Health and medical facilities 
    • Construction of a cancer hospital in Begusarai . 
    • 108 new urban medical centers will open in Bihar . 
    • Provision of a special care centre for cancer patients . 
  • Infrastructure and Transportation 
    • Construction of Purnia Airport will start soon. 
    • 8 new airports including Rajgir, Sultanganj, Raxaul, Madhubani will be built. 
    • 33% reservation for women in Bihar State Road Transport Corporation. 
  • Environment and Clean Energy 
    • Investment of Rs 1 crore for improving air quality. 
    • Solar plants will be installed along the canal banks at a cost of Rs 25 crore. 
  • Agriculture and Rural Development 
    • Market committees will be empowered. 
    • Stalls for selling vegetables will be opened at block level. 
    • Formation of vegetable production committee in all blocks. 
  • Migrant Biharis and tourism 
    • Help centres in various cities for migrant Biharis. 
    • Government assistance for home-stay facility for Chhath Puja . 
  • Industry and Trade 
    • Promotion to companies setting up compressed biogas plants. 
    • New incentive policy for pharmaceutical manufacturing companies.

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Rural

Why in News? 

Recently, the Chief Minister of Bihar transferred assistance amount of Rs 1,200 crore as the first installment for three lakh families under  Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin . 

 Key Points 

• The beneficiaries will be given another 80 thousand rupees in the form of second and third installments in the next hundred days.  
• Apart from this, Rs 22,050 will be provided as unskilled labour for 90 days through MNREGA and Rs 12,000 will be provided for toilet construction under Lohia Swachh Bihar Abhiyan . 

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G) 

• Launch: To achieve the objective of “Housing for All” by the year 2022 , the erstwhile rural housing scheme Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) was restructured into Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme from 1 April 2016 . 
• Ministry Involved: Ministry of Rural Development. 
• Status: States/UTs have sanctioned 2.85 crore houses to the beneficiaries and 2.22 crore houses have been completed till March 2023. 
• Objective: To provide pucca houses with basic amenities to all the rural families who are homeless or living in kutcha or dilapidated houses by the end of March 2022. 
  • To provide assistance to rural people living below the poverty line (BPL) in the form of full grants for construction of housing units and upgradation of existing unusable kutcha houses. 
• Beneficiaries: Scheduled Castes / Scheduled Tribes , freed bonded labourers and persons belonging to non-SC/ST categories, widows or next of kin of defence personnel killed in war, ex-servicemen and retired members of paramilitary forces, persons with disabilities and minorities . 
• Selection of Beneficiaries: Three-step verification such as through Socio-Economic Caste Census 2011, Gram Sabha and Geo-tagging. 
• Cost Sharing: The Centre and the States share expenditure in the ratio of 60:40 in case of plain areas and 90:10 in case of North-Eastern States, two Himalayan States and the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir . 
  • In case of other Union Territories including Union Territory of Ladakh, the Centre bears 100% of the cost.