Bihar bonanza in Budget: How it may play out in poll-bound state | Political Pulse News
From her choice of saree to announcements for the state, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman kept the focus on poll-bound Bihar in the Union Budget on Saturday.
The announcements, catering to farmers to the middle class, are important as the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) looks to keep the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-led Mahagathbandhan at bay and win Bihar late this year. One of the RJD’s chief targets has been the NDA government governance track record and the issue of jobs.
BJP ally Janata Dal (United) and its other NDA allies welcomed the budget of the “youth and farmers that would help the government take advantage of the “vast food processing potential of Bihar”. Sitharaman also sent a signal to the Mithila region of Bihar with her sartorial choice. The Union finance minister wore a cream-coloured saree with a Madhubani art form print with fish motifs. Artist Dulari Devi, a Padma Shri awardee from 2021, said she had gifted the saree to Sitharaman when she visited Madhubani earlier and urged her to wear it on Budget Day.
Here are the highlights for Bihar from the Budget:
* Makhana Board: The government has announced a Makhana Board will be set up in Bihar to improve production, processing, value addition, and the marketing of Makhana, or fox nuts. The board will provide handholding and training support to Makhana farmers and ensure they benefit from relevant government schemes.
Bihar accounts for almost 85-90% of makhana production in India and the move is expected to benefit farmers in north Bihar districts such as Darbhanga, Madhubani, Sitamarhi, Samastipur, Purnea, and Katihar.
* National Institute of Food Technology: A National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship, and Management will be set up in Bihar to boost food processing activities in the eastern region of the state. “This will result in (1) enhanced income for the farmers through value addition to their produce, and (2) skilling, entrepreneurship and employment opportunities for the youth,” said Sitharaman.
* Expansion of IIT Patna: In a signal to the middle class and the youth, the minister said the hostel and other infrastructure capacity at IIT Patna would be expanded as part of the government’s initiative to enhance IITs across India.
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In the next five years, 10,000 fellowships for technology research in IITs and IISc will be provided. The government will also create additional infrastructure in the five IITs started after 2014 to facilitate the education of 6,500 more students.
* New airports: Greenfield airports will be set up in Bihar and the Patna airport will be expanded, the Finance Minister said, apart from a brownfield airport that will come up in Bihta in Patna district’s Danapur tenshil. While greenfield airports are built on undeveloped land, brownfield airports come up on land utilised for something else earlier.
* Western Kosi Canal Project: The minister said financial support would be provided for the Western Kosi Canal project, benefiting farmers cultivating over 50,000 hectares of land in the Mithilanchal region comprising Supaul, Saharsa, Madhepura, Darbhanga and Madhubani.
* Bharatiya Bhasha Pushtak scheme: This will provide Indian language books for schools and higher education in the digital format.
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* National centres of excellence: Bihar and four other states will also get national centres of excellence for developing skills, global expertise, and partnerships. Overall, 50,000 new Atal Tinkering Labs will be set up across the country in government schools to develop the scientific temperament of students and Bihar is likely to be a major beneficiary of this move.
Welcoming the announcements, Bihar Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary of the BJP said, “It is a historic Budget that will largely benefit Bihar. The NDA government at the Centre under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is concerned about the faster growth of the state. The Finance Minister announced a slew of schemes for the state.”
JD(U) national working president and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Kumar Jha expressed gratitude to PM Narendra Modi and Sitaraman for the special focus on Bihar. “Mithila region will get a special boost with Makhana Board coming up. Greenfield airports will further help the state in many ways. The Kosi region, otherwise known for devastating floods, has received a great boost because of the West Kosi Canal Project.”
Union Food Processing Minister and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) president Chirag Paswan said, “The Budget is in line with great thinking of building up a strong nation. The Makhana Board will provide a major boost to the vast food processing potential of Bihar. The Budget further narrows the gap between the rich and the poor. The budget talks about skill, infrastructure and further developing youth power.”
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On the Opposition’s criticism of the big focus on Bihar, Paswan said, “In such a case they (Opposition parties) should not fight the polls in Bihar. Bihar is also a part of this country and if it has got something, what is wrong with that? Announcements have been made to build IIT, greenfield airports, and food processing chains … All of this will be greatly beneficial to the youth of Bihar. What is the problem with that?”
Paswan said there was always some election going on in India around the time of a Budget. “If the Opposition has so many objections, it might as well support the concept of simultaneous polls and end the debate once and for all. When the Budget will be presented next time, some poll must be going on.”
The Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav of the RJD, called the Budget “anti-poor and anti-village”.”
“Where is the special category status for Bihar? What has the so-called special package brought so far to Bihar? This Budget is a bundle of promises alone. It is anti-village and anti-poor,” Yadav said.
— With PTI inputs
