Bihar Cabinet approves Rs 225 crore for 'Mahila Samwad' programme

The Bihar Cabinet on Tuesday gave its nod for allocation of Rs 225 crore for 'Mahila Samwad', an ambitious programme under which CM Nitish Kumar, ministers and top officials would visit districts to inform women about the ongoing policies of the state government for their empowerment. Sources on the condition of anonymity said the interaction programme will be held at district and block level with the chief minister, likely to attend a number of these, while his cabinet colleagues and top officials would chip in at other places.

The Cabinet meeting chaired by the CM on Tuesday approved the allocation of Rs 225.78 crore for 'Mahila Sambad'.

According to information provided by the Cabinet Secretariat department of the state government, "A proposal in this regard was mooted by the Rural Development Department of the state government. During the programme in rural areas, women will be informed about the ongoing policies of the government pertaining to women's empowerment. Efforts will also be made to find out expectations and aspirations of women from the government during the dialogue programme."


It is expected that the ambitious programme would be launched from next month. The government will soon issue a circular in this regard, officials said.

Women form nearly 48 per cent of Bihar's total voters.

The Bihar cabinet also decided to enhance the ex-gratia amount to Rs 21 lakh from Rs 11 lakh for kin of army and central armed police forces personnel hailing from Bihar, who are martyred in different operations or war-like situations.

"The state government will pay Rs 21 lakh as ex-gratia to the kins of soldiers and officers, hailing from Bihar, martyred in different operations or war-like situations. In the case of army personnel, soldiers who are martyred in Bihar even if they are not residents of the state, their kins will get an ex-gratia amount of Rs 21 lakh", said the proposal mooted by the state Home department before the cabinet.