Bihar: 94 lakh poor families to receive Rs 2 lakh as financial assistance

In a significant move ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the Nitish Kumar-led government in Bihar has passed a proposal to provide financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh each to more than 94 lakh families identified based on the recently conducted caste survey.

A proposal in this regard was brought during a state Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. The proposal got approval to provide financial aid of Rs 2 lakh to 94,33,312 families belonging from financially weak backgrounds.

“Under the Bihar Small Entrepreneur Scheme, the state government will give Rs 2 lakh each to poor families. The state government has decided to implement this scheme. The process has been determined and 62 such small industries have also been identified for which this money will be given,” said S Siddharth, Additional Chief Secretary of the Cabinet Department.

“We will also receive online applications. The criteria to avail the benefits of this scheme is that the income of the poor family should not be more than Rs 6,000 per month,” he said.

The state government will give an amount of Rs 2 lakh each in three instalments, out of which the first instalment will be 25 per cent, 50 per cent for the second instalment and 25 per cent for the third instalment.

According to the survey, over 42 per cent of Bihar families from Scheduled Castes are poor while 25 per cent of people from the General category are poor. About 42.70 per cent of families from Scheduled Tribes are poor.

The Bihar government released the preliminary findings of the caste survey on October 2 last year, while the second part of the data was revealed on November 7.

As per the survey, Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) constituted more than 60 per cent of the state’s total population, while the upper castes accounted for about 10 per cent.

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