Patna: Bihar marked National Women’s Day with a ceremony that blended recruitment, welfare disbursement and political messaging around women’s empowerment.
At the Dashrath Manjhi Institute of Labour and Employment Studies in Patna, the Women and Child Development Corporation distributed 253 appointment letters to newly selected candidates across various social welfare roles.
Bandana Preyashi, secretary of the social welfare department, attended as chief guest and handed over the appointment letters. She also released an After Care Guide and a commemorative coffee table book, and led a collective pledge affirming respect and protection for women.
Alongside the recruitment drive, the state transferred Rs 3,77,50,000 directly into the bank accounts of 755 women selected through the 71st Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) examination under the Civil Services Incentive Scheme. Officials described the disbursement as a step towards encouraging greater female participation in higher civil services.
Of the 253 appointments, 106 were made under the State Child Protection Committee and 147 under the Women and Child Development Corporation. Posts include case workers, counsellors, paralegal and paramedical staff, data entry operators and other support roles, particularly under the One Stop Centre (OSC) scheme.
The government also announced the expansion of the OSC network. In addition to the 39 centres already functioning across districts, 143 personnel have been recruited to staff 26 new centres. These facilities provide psychosocial counselling, legal and medical assistance, police support and temporary shelter to women facing violence.
Under the Chief Minister’s Kanya Suraksha Yojana, 11 beneficiaries received certificates confirming the transfer of maturity amounts into their bank accounts. The scheme, aimed at improving the sex ratio and discouraging female foeticide, had issued UTI bonds in the names of girls aged up to three years from below-poverty-line families. Those who have now turned 18 are receiving payments in phases.
Recruitment under the State Protection Committee includes positions such as programme manager, legal-cum-probation officer, counsellors, outreach workers, child welfare officers, nurses and physiotherapists, among others.
In her address, Secretary Bandana Preyashi described the ceremony as more than a formal hiring exercise. “This is not merely about providing employment, but about strengthening a sensitive service system,” she said, adding that the state’s objective was to ensure timely assistance, protection and justice to every woman and child in need.
Officials present included senior representatives from the social welfare department, the Women and Child Development Corporation, the Child Protection Unit, and partners such as UTI and UNICEF.
Across districts, similar awareness and benefit distribution activities were organised under the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign, reinforcing the day’s official theme: that empowerment, in policy terms, begins with appointments, transfers and the promise of institutional support.
