Patna, March 3 (IANS) Ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections 2025-26, Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Samrat Choudhary has presented a populist budget aimed at farmers, students, and women, with a total allocation of Rs 3.17 lakh crore.
Bihar is an agriculture-based state, with 80 per cent of the population dependent on farming. Keeping this in mind, the government has prioritised farmers’ demands to secure their support in the upcoming elections.
Bihar’s Finance Minister Samrat Choudhary said that Rs 3,528.22 crore for the agriculture sector, that is 1.11 per cent of the total budget, Rs 1,289 crore for modernisation and development of 21 agricultural production market premises and cold storage facilities to be established at subdivision and block levels.
The government will coordinate with NCCF and NAFED to purchase tur, moong, and urad at minimum support prices (MSP).
Along the lines of Sudha Dairy, the government will open vegetable outlets at the block level to help farmers get a fair price for their produce and expansion of primary vegetable producer cooperative societies (PVCS).
Currently, 302 PVCSs exist under the Bihar State Vegetable Processing and Marketing Federation (VEGFED).
In 2025-26, PVCS will be expanded to all blocks and affiliated with unions.
The government plans to improve air travel facilities for middle and upper-class citizens.
Air service from Purnea will start within three months, airports will be developed in Rajgir, Sultanganj (Bhagalpur), and Raxaul. Small airports will be built in Bhagalpur, Valmikinagar, Virpur (Supaul), Madhubani, Munger, Saharsa, and Muzaffarpur under the UDAN scheme.
Small aircraft having 19-seater capacity will operate in these small airports. The Nitish Kumar government has given a boost to the education sector.
It has allocated Rs 60,964 Crore for the financial year 2025-26. As per the plan, degree colleges will be opened in 358 blocks of Bihar. The idea is to attract student voters.
Samrat Choudhary has mentioned several initiatives to empower women and improve their safety. Kanya Vivah Mandap is one of them.
Under this program, marriage halls for poor girls in all panchayats, hostels for working women in cities, pink buses for women in major cities with women drivers and conductors and housing for women constables near police stations.
Samrat Choudhary also targeted Dalit and Backward caste people in this budget with welfare initiatives like scholarships for Backward Classes & Dalits will be doubled.
In this budget, the state finance minister has allocated Rs 20,335 crore for the health sector. He mentioned referral hospitals to be built in major subdivisions and a new cancer hospital in Begusarai.
In a bid to achieve the target of reaching any remote area of the state from Patna in just 4 hours, Rs 17,908 crore was allocated for the road infrastructure for urban and rural areas.
To promote the sports, the state government has planned to build outdoor stadiums in all remaining blocks and the ‘Medal Lao, Naukari Pao’ (Win medals, get government jobs) scheme to continue.
The state government has allocated Rs 100 crore to build smoke towers to combat pollution. With an election year ahead, the budget strategically targets backward classes, farmers, women, and infrastructure development, while also focusing on healthcare and environmental concerns.
The budget received appreciation from CM Nitish Kumar, who hugged and praised Samrat Choudhary after its presentation.
The special focus on agriculture aims to attract farmers’ votes ahead of the 2025 assembly elections. With provisions for MSP, market modernisation, and cold storage, the government seeks to strengthen Bihar’s agrarian economy while boosting rural livelihoods.
–IANS
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