The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) released its Bihar election manifesto on Friday, promising sops to compete with the Opposition Mahagathbandhan’s manifesto. If the INDIA bloc manifesto promised a government job for one member of each family, the NDA has promised more than 1 crore government jobs given based on skills ascertained by a Skill Census. The manifesto also promises a mega skill centre in every district of Bihar to transform the state into a global skilling centre.
The NDA manifesto has a clear focus on women. It promises up to Rs 2 lakh in assistance to women under the Mukhya Mantri Mahila Rozgar Yojana, undertakes to make 1 crore women ‘Lakhpati Didis’, and also promises a Mission Crorepati under which women entrepreneurs will be made millionaires. The INDIA bloc manifesto, too, promised a “Mai Bahin Maan Yojana under which women will receive Rs 2,500 per month for five years.
EBC and Dalit outreach
The Sankalp Patra also focuses on the Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs), the largest chunk of the state that constitutes 36% of the population. It mentions Rs 10-lakh assistance for business groups belonging to EBCs and a high-level committee led by a retired Supreme Court judge to study the social and economic conditions of the EBCs to suggest measures for their empowerment. The Mahagathbandhan had also promised a “Most Backward Classes Atrocity Prevention Act” and an increase in reservation for EBCs in panchayats and urban bodies from 20% to 30%.
The NDA manifesto promises Rs 2,000 per month for every Dalit student enrolled in higher education and a special venture fund for entrepreneurs from the Scheduled Caste (SC) communities. The Mahagathbandhan manifesto promised a scholarship scheme that would fund 200 SC-ST students for higher studies abroad every year, and promised to raise SC-ST quotas in panchayats and urban local bodies from 16% to 20%.
Promises for farmers
The manifesto makes several promises to farmers in a state where 89% of the population was still rural, according to the 2011 Census. The manifesto has vowed to start the Karpoori Thakur Kisan Samman Nidhi to pay farmers Rs 3,000 a year for three years. It promises to spend Rs 1-lakh crore on agri-infrastructure, and procurement of wheat, paddy, pulses and corn at the minimum support price at the panchayat level. It also promises five mega food parks, doubling of agricultural exports, and self-reliance in the production of pulses by 2030. It undertakes to transform Bihar into the global export centre of Makhana and fish.
The Mahagathbandhan has promised procurement of all crops at Minimum Support Price (MSP) and said it would revive the mandi system and the APMC Act. The daily wage under the MGNREGA would be raised from Rs 255 to Rs 300, with the total days of employment promised under it doubled from 100 to 200, the Tejashwi Yadav-led alliance promised.
The NDA has promised a Bihar Matsya Mission and Bihar Dugdh Mission: the first to double the production and export of fish, and the second to open chilling and processing centres in each block to promote milk production.
Social security
The NDA manifesto promises 125 units of free electricity, free medical treatment up to Rs 5 lakh, 50-lakh new housing units and a social security pension. Similar promises by the INDIA bloc include 200 units of free electricity for every household, a monthly pension of Rs 1,500 for widows and senior citizens, free health insurance of up to Rs 25 lakh per family under the Jan Swasthya Suraksha Yojana, and extension of CGHS-type healthcare benefits to state government employees. The Mahagathbandhan document also envisages special facilities for the disabled.
The NDA has also promised life insurance of Rs 4 lakh for auto, taxi and e-rickshaw drivers, and collateral-free vehicle loans for them at low interest rates. It also promises financial assistance and skill training for unorganised sector workers.
Education and health
In education, the NDA promises free, quality education for the poor from kindergarten to post-graduation, a healthy breakfast along with midday meals in schools, and modern skill labs in schools. It also promises to build a world-class education city in the state, invest Rs 5,000 crore to transform district-level schools, and build a Centre of Excellence to transform Bihar into an AI hub. The INDIA bloc has also promised an Educational City spread over 2,000 acres.
The NDA has promised a world-class medicity and a medical college in each district. It has also vowed to build a super-speciality hospital for children and people with autism. The manifesto has also promised the construction of a sports city.
Infrastructure and urban development
The ruling coalition has also promised infrastructure projects to “transform” the state: seven expressways and modernisation of 3,600 km of railway tracks. It has promised extension of the Amrit Bharat Expressway and the NaMo Rapid Rail and has promised a Metro in four cities. In contrast, the Opposition has promised five new expressways in the state.
For urban development in the largely rural state, the NDA has promised a greenfield city in New Patna and satellite townships near major towns. It has also promised collateral-free loans for establishing 1-lakh green homestays, a film city, a Sharda Sinha Art and Culture University, a Bihar School of Drama, and a film and television institute in the state.
In a sign that the outreach to the poor is combined with an aspirational pitch, the NDA manifesto has promised international airports in Patna, Darbhanga, Purnia and Bhagalpur, and domestic flights from 10 new cities. It also speaks of an industrial revolution in Bihar under the Viksit Bihar Audyogik Mission at an outlay of Rs 1-lakh crore and a Viksit Bihar Industrial Development Masterplan to generate lakhs of jobs. The manifesto also talks of cutting-edge manufacturing units in each district and 10 new industrial parks.
The ruling coalition has mentioned its intent to create a new-age economy in Bihar to transform it into a “global back-end hub” and “global workplace”, attract Rs 50 lakh crore in investment to the state, and set up a Flood Management Board to save Bihar from annual floods. The NDA manifesto promises to make Bihar a global textile hub, transform eastern India into a tech hub, and build 100 MSME parks.
The Mahagathbandhan manifesto has also proposed IT parks, Special Economic Zones, dairy-based and agro-based industries, renewable energy projects, food processing and tourism ventures, and new industry clusters.
Religious tourism
In what weds urbanisation to religious beliefs, the NDA has also promised a new ‘spiritual’ city, Sitapuram, in the Mithila region to mark the birthplace of Sita, Lord Ram’s wife. For religious tourism, the NDA has promised a Maa Janki temple and a Mahabodhi Corridor, and the development of a Ramayana/Jain/Buddhist/Ganga circuit.