Patna: The Bihar cabinet, chaired by chief minister Nitish Kumar, on Tuesday approved 16 proposals across key departments, ranging from major infrastructure projects to policy changes in education and health.
The meeting, held at the chief minister’s secretariat in Patna, cleared two significant road projects. These include widening the 19.43 km Salepur–Narsanda–Telmar–Karauta road into a four-lane highway at a cost of Rs 5,391.9 crore, and the construction of a 7.4 km four-lane stretch with a rail overbridge near Rajgir, estimated at Rs 3,639.9 crore.
The cabinet also sanctioned Rs 1,000 crore from the state’s contingency fund for investment in the Guarantee Redemption Fund, approved a one-time grant of Rs 6 crore under the National Agriculture Market scheme for 20 market sites, and reduced application fees for government recruitment examinations conducted by state commissions.
In a push to boost tourism, in-principle approval was given for the construction and operation of two five-star hotels in Rajgir and a five-star resort in Vaishali under a public-private partnership model. Land transfers were approved for the construction of a Bihar Special Armed Police battalion headquarters in Banka and a grid substation in Buxar district.
Teachers receiving the state teacher award will now see their prize money doubled from Rs 15,000 to Rs 30,000. The cabinet also decided to mark the birth anniversary of freedom fighter and former minister Upendra Nath Verma with a state memorial event every August 23 in Gaya.
Other approvals included amendments to cadre rules for auxiliary nurse midwives, new service rules for the sugarcane industry, and continued funding for the e-Beneficiary Portal maintained by the National Informatics Centre.
