Rs 10,000 to start venture: Nitish Kumar announces scheme to boost women’s self-employment

Nitish Kumar

Ahead of the upcoming assembly polls in Bihar, chief minister Nitish Kumar on Friday announced a major scheme to support women’s employment. Kumar said a proposal in this regard was approved at a cabinet meeting earlier in the day. Bihar is slated to go to the polls in October/November this year.

Under the ‘Mukhyamantri Mahila Rozgar Yojana’, one woman from every family will receive Rs 10,000 as the first installment to start a small business of her choice. The scheme will be managed by the Rural Development Department, and the application process will start soon. By September, the government will begin transferring money directly into women’s bank accounts.

After six months, the government will check how the business is doing. If needed, the woman can receive up to Rs 2 lakh more to grow her business.

On Monday, the Bihar government also approved a New Industrial Package 2025 to attract investment and create jobs. Companies investing over Rs 100 crore and providing 1,000+ jobs will get 10 acres of free land. For investments over Rs 1,000 crore, the land limit is 25 acres.

In June this year, the Bihar CM announced two key benefits for women in Jeevika Self-Help Groups. First, for loans over Rs 3 lakh, the interest rate was reduced from 10 percent to 7 percent. Second, salaries of 1.4 lakh Jeevika workers were doubled. Now, block-level workers will earn up to Rs 50,000, and village-level workers will get up to Rs 25,000 per month.