Bihar govt doubles pension for 'JP Senanis'

The Bihar government on Wednesday announced a two-fold increase in the pension amount for 'JP Senanis', political activists who had been imprisoned during the Emergency for supporting socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan's movement.

The proposal was cleared at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who himself was a key figure in the 'JP movement' that began in 1974, a year ahead of the proclamation of the Emergency.

"The pension for 'JP Senanis', who had spent more than six months behind bars, has been raised to Rs 30,000 per month from Rs 15,000, and for those who served shorter prison terms, it has been hiked from Rs 7,500 to Rs 15,000," a senior official said.


The development comes ahead of the assembly elections in the state, due later in the year.

Kumar had launched the pension scheme named after Jayaprakash Narayan in 2009. Though the CM fulfils the criteria for the pension, he never applied for it.

RJD supremo Lalu Prasad is also one of the beneficiaries of the scheme.