Nitish cabinet okays 16 proposals; exam fee cut, job push, tourism boost among key decisions

Patna, Aug 19 (IANS) The Bihar cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday, approved 16 proposals across various departments, giving multiple reliefs and development packages to the people.

One of the most significant decisions was the reduction/exemption in application fees for all recruitment examinations conducted by the Bihar Public Service Commission, Bihar Staff Selection Commission, Bihar Technical Service Commission, Bihar Police Subordinate Service Commission, Central Selection Board of Constables and other state-level commissions.

The exam fee has been slashed to Rs 100, while the main examination fee has been waived – a promise CM Nitish Kumar had announced during his Independence Day address at Gandhi Maidan, Patna.

Highlighting the government’s commitment to youth, CM Nitish reiterated the target of providing one crore jobs and employment opportunities in the next five years, through both government recruitments and promotion of self-employment.

The other major cabinet decisions include approval for setting up two five-star hotels in Rajgir (Nalanda) and a five-star resort in Vaishali through PPP mode under the Infrastructure Development Enabling Amendment Act 2023.

The idea is to boost the tourism sector in Bihar. These five-star hotels will be constructed as part of the Bihar government’s Buddha Circuit initiative.

Apart from that, the State Teacher Award prize money doubled from Rs 15,000 to Rs 30,000 from FY 2025–26, the birth anniversary of freedom fighter and former minister Upendra Nath Verma will be celebrated annually as a state function on August 23 at his statue site near Digdhi Pond, Gaya.

The cabinet approved spending Rs 6 crore as a one-time grant under the National Agricultural Market DPR-Based Scheme across 20 market premises in FY 2025–26, clearance of Bihar Sugarcane Development Service (Recruitment, Promotion and Service Conditions) Rules, 2025 and Bihar Women Health Worker Cadre Rules, 2025.

With these decisions, the Nitish government has signalled a pro-youth, pro-development agenda ahead of the 2025 Assembly elections, aiming to address employment, tourism, agriculture, and education sectors simultaneously.

–IANS

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