Patna: The Bihar cabinet, chaired by chief minister Nitish Kumar, approved 31 proposals at a meeting held on Thursday, clearing a series of welfare, education and security-related decisions with significant financial implications.
One of the key decisions was to double the rates under the pre-matric scholarship scheme for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students from the 2025–26 financial year. Under the revised structure, students in classes 1–4 will receive Rs 1,200 annually, those in classes 5–6 Rs 2,400, and classes 7–10 Rs 3,600. Hostel residents from classes 1–10 will receive Rs 6,000 a year. The rates had remained unchanged since 2011.
Officials said around 27 lakh students studying in government and recognised schools would benefit, with the state bearing an estimated annual cost of Rs 519.64 crore for this component.
The cabinet also approved the establishment of a music college in Dumraon, in Buxar district, to be named after Bharat Ratna Ustad Bismillah Khan. A previous administrative approval of Rs 14.52 crore was scrapped and replaced with a fresh sanction of Rs 87.81 crore under the state plan. The funding will cover construction of the academic building, furniture, internal roads and boundary walls. Officials said the institution would offer students an opportunity to pursue formal education in various disciplines of music.
In a move aimed at strengthening law and order, the cabinet approved an increase in the honorarium for personnel of the Special Auxiliary Police (SAP) with immediate effect. It also cleared a proposal to recruit 17,000 retired personnel from the Indian Army and central paramilitary forces on a contractual basis during the 2026–27 financial year to bolster crime control, counter-insurgency operations and policing capacity under the Bihar Police.
Several welfare schemes for backward classes were also expanded. From 2025–26, the monthly grant under the chief minister’s Backward Classes and Extremely Backward Classes Hostel Scheme will be doubled from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 per student, at an estimated annual cost of Rs 19.56 crore.
The cabinet further modified the chief minister’s Backward Classes Merit Scholarship Scheme by raising the maximum annual family income limit from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 3 lakh, effective from 2026–27. This change is expected to increase annual expenditure under the scheme to Rs 117.98 crore.
Separately, the revised pre-matric scholarship for backward and extremely backward classes — aligned with the enhanced rates announced — will entail an estimated annual outlay of Rs 1,751.56 crore from 2025–26.
