Nitish Kumar government declares holiday on King Ashoka anniversary

PATNA: The Nitish Kumar government today declared holiday in Bihar on April 14 to observe anniversary of King Ashoka.

A decision was taken at a meeting of state cabinet which was presided over by the CM.

The newly-declared holiday will be under Negotiable Instrument Act, Principal Secretary State Cabinet department Brajesh Mehrotra told reporters.

Emperor of Maurya Dynasty King Ashoka's name came up during recently-held Bihar poll campaigns with some leaders having claimed that he hailed from backward caste of Kushwaha.

The cabinet approved 19 proposals of different departments at the meeting this evening here.

It approved a sum of Rs 23.94 crore for repair of 109,384 hand pumps in the state.

A proposal to this effect had come from Public Health Engineering Department (PHED).