Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday claimed that his administration had worked for all communities and would create 12 lakh government jobs by next year.
“We have worked for people belonging to all religions and castes, whether they may be Hindus, Muslims, Dalits, Mahadalits, backward and extremely backward people or those of general category castes,” Nitish said after hoisting the national flag at Gandhi Maidan in Patna.
“There is an atmosphere of love, brotherhood and peace in the state. No fights happen (between communities or castes). The state government takes care of people of all religions — Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists and Jains. The
religious places connected to them are being beautified and public amenities are
being developed around them,” Nitish added.
The chief minister said he had worked much for Muslim students since 2005 and schemes were being run to offer them scholarships and free coaching.
“Our government recognised madrasas and its teachers are being paid equivalent to government school teachers. We have constructed boundary walls of 8,746 Muslim graveyards since 2006 and work is in progress at over 500 more graveyards. Boundary walls of over 60-year-old temples are also being constructed to arrest idol thefts,” Nitish said.
The chief minister’s speech indicated that he was not willing to surrender his socialist and secular credentials despite being a part of the NDA governments in the state and at the Centre.
Nitish said 91 residential schools were currently being run for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
The chief minister also talked about employment, indicating that he had started shifting his gears ahead of Assembly elections next year.
“We have decided to provide 12 lakh government jobs by next year, instead of our earlier target of 10 lakh jobs. The process of creating vacancies and recruiting employees is in progress. We will also create employment opportunities for 34 lakh people in the state,” Nitish said.
The government plans to recruit teachers in large numbers and 1.17 lakh police personnel, which will take the overall strength of Bihar police to 2.27 lakh.
Nitish said the state budget had grown from ₹28,000 crore in 2005-06 to ₹2.78 lakh crore in 2024-25.
