Patna: The Bihar government has unveiled the Chief Minister Women Employment Scheme, aimed at improving the economic condition of women and promoting self-employment across the state. A detailed guideline for the scheme has been released, outlining eligibility and application procedures.
The initiative, approved by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar during a cabinet meeting on August 29, seeks to empower women financially and connect them with income-generating opportunities. Under the first phase, women will receive an initial grant of Rs 10,000. Their progress will be assessed after six months, and successful beneficiaries may receive additional assistance of up to Rs 2 lakh.
Eligibility criteria, as explained by Chief Executive Officer Himanshu Sharma, include registration with Jeevika, an age between 18 and 60, and exclusion of applicants or their spouses from income tax-paying categories. Unmarried women can also apply, provided their parents are deceased.
The application process differs for rural and urban areas. Rural women must apply through their cluster-level union, with applications collected during village organisation meetings and uploaded to the portal via the block project unit. Following verification, the funds will be transferred directly to the beneficiary’s Aadhaar-linked bank account. Urban women will be able to apply online through a dedicated portal, currently under development.
The scheme is designed to support women in starting self-employment ventures such as fruit and vegetable shops, dairy and grocery stores, clothing or footwear outlets, mobile repair shops, photocopy-stationery businesses, beauty parlours, e-rickshaw services, and goat or poultry farming.
