Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced Thursday that the second instalment of financial assistance under the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana would be released from February, six months after the scheme was launched.
The announcement to release Rs 10,000 to prospective women entrepreneurs came after a Cabinet meeting held ahead of the state Budget Session beginning February 2. It also comes amid Kumar’s Samriddhi Yatra — ostensibly to review progress of Rs 50,000 crore worth of projects announced by his government — continues to draw large numbers of women.
In a post on X, Kumar said: “I am happy to say that action has been initiated to provide additional financial assistance of up to Rs 2 lakh to the selected beneficiaries under the Chief Minister Women’s Employment Scheme. This amount will be given in phases, provided the earlier amount has been used for employment. If the employment is running well, a lump sum amount can also be given if needed. The department has been directed to ensure proper marketing of products produced by beneficiaries under the Chief Minister Women’s Employment Scheme. Also, these beneficiaries should be linked with various government departments like clothing manufacturing, Sudha sales centre, Didi’s kitchen, etc”.
It remains unclear how much money will be released in the second instalment of the scheme, which emerged as a game-changer in the Assembly election held last November. The scheme is considered instrumental in helping the NDA win 202 of the Bihar Assembly’s 243 seats.
A total of 1.56 crore women received the first instalment, with the state government now drawing up a list of beneficiaries for the second instalment based on how the initial amount was utilised.
The Cabinet also took several other key decisions, including enhanced scholarships for disadvantaged students, additional funds to clear industrial incentive claims, expansion of police and security infrastructure, and amendments to governance and service rules.
It approved revised pre-matric scholarship rates for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students from the 2025–26 financial year — Rs 1,200 for Classes 1–4, Rs 2,400 for Classes 5–6, Rs 3,600 for Classes 7–10, and Rs 6,000 for residential students from Classes 1–10 — with an estimated outlay of Rs 519.64 crore.
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Similar revisions were cleared for pre-matric scholarships for Backward Classes and Extremely Backward Classes, involving an estimated annual outlay of Rs 1,751.56 crore from 2025–26. The Cabinet also doubled the monthly hostel grant under the Chief Minister’s Backward and Extremely Backward Class Hostel Grant Scheme from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 per student, at an annual cost of Rs 19.56 crore.
Amendments to existing resolutions governing post-matric scholarships for SC and ST students under both centrally sponsored and state schemes were also approved.
In the health sector, the Cabinet cleared an advance of Rs 5,000 crore from the Bihar Contingency Fund to settle pending bills related to the construction of medical colleges and hospitals. An additional Rs 1,700 crore was approved to clear pending incentive claims of entrepreneurs under the Bihar Industrial Incentive Policy, 2016.
The Cabinet also approved the Bihar Semiconductor Policy, 2026, the Bihar Global Capability Centre Policy, 2026, and the formation of the Bihar State Marketing Authority to enable integrated management and regulation of agricultural, industrial and allied product marketing.
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Meanwhile, the Opposition RJD questioned the selection criteria for the second instalment of the women employment scheme, with spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari saying it had already put a “financial burden of Rs 15,000 crore on the state exchequer”.
“We have nothing against the scheme but would like to know how and from where the state government would get such a large sum of money. We also want to know how compliance of the scheme is being done,” he said.
JD(U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar dismissed these concerns.
“The Opposition must not worry about the fund needed for implementation for the scheme. The CM’s announcement of the next instalment shows the NDA government’s commitment towards social justice and women empowerment. The scheme would effect a change of economic transformation after social transformation of the scheme,” he said.
