CM unveils schemes for Bihar worth Rs 602 crore

PATNA: Chief minister Nitish Kumar launched different projects of rural development department (RDD) and urban development & housing department (UDHD) worth Rs602.58 crore through videoconferencing on Saturday.
The CM also transferred Rs273.56 crore in the bank accounts of 13.68 lakh registered construction sector workers through direct benefit transfer (DBT).An amount of Rs2,000 per worker was provided under the state government’s Covid-19 Special Assistance Grant Scheme to help them.
Out of the total 602.58 crore, RDD projects were worth Rs347.37 crore. The CM inaugurated 97,525 completed projects under the state government’s ‘Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali Abhiyan’. The projects included the renovation of 6,097 ponds, ahars or pynes and construction of 85,233 soak pit structures around the public handpumps and wells, 1,701 check dams along small rivers and rivulets, rainwater harvesting structures in 1,328 government buildings and 3,166 community sanitation centres.
“The 3,166 community sanitation centres were constructed under the Lohia Swachh Bihar Abhiyan, while the other RDD works were done under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS),” RDD minister Shrawan Kumar said.
The 298 projects of the UDHD launched are worth Rs255.21 crore. Nitish launched the commencement of work for the Integrated Command and Control Centre and e-governance based smart city solution under the Biharsharif Smart City project. This project will cost Rs102.94 crore.
He also launched the commencement of installation work for the Integrated Command and Control Centre under the Patna Smart City Project at the cost of Rs15.97 crore.
Nitish also inaugurated an online integrated portal for mobile towers and optical fibre application process and disposal system under the Patna Smart City Project.
During the event, CM also interacted with the district magistrates (DMs) of Gaya, East Champaran, Purnea and Samastipur and observed some completed projects through videoconferencing. The DMs briefed him about the projects completed under the Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali Abhiyan. Nitish also interacted with some of the beneficiaries in the four districts. The beneficiaries lauded the CM’s efforts to provide necessary relief to poor people during the lockdown period.
Speaking on the occasion, Nitish said the works done for environment protection under the Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali Abhiyan were now being discussed abroad. Recently, the UN sent a letter inquiring about the works being done in the field of environment protection in Bihar.
“Still, a few people in the state are engaged in ‘byanbazi’ (issuing statements against the state government) without being aware about the facts and impact of the state government’s good works in other states,” Nitish said, without taking the name of any opposition leader.
The CM also said teachers of madrassas and other minority schools and all Sanskrit schools would now be provided the benefits of Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) and 15% hike in their salary from April 2021, on par with the teachers employed by the PRIs and ULBs.
Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi, UDHD minister Suresh Kumar Sharma and labour resources minister Vijay Kumar Sinha lauded the CM for taking up several measures for the poor people during the lockdown period.