Bihar govt approves Rs 51.68 crore for SIR amid political uproar

Patna, July 15 (IANS) Ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections, the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll has triggered political controversy, with the opposition alleging it is an attempt to implement NRC in the state.

Amid the ongoing debate, the Bihar government has approved an allocation of Rs 51.68 crore to support the revision work.

The decision was taken during the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday, where 30 proposals from various departments were approved.

Under this proposal from the Election Department, the sanctioned funds will be used to pay honorariums to workers engaged in the SIR process.

Around 77,895 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and 8,245 BLO supervisors will be paid Rs 6,000 each as honorarium for their role in the revision work.

The opposition parties, including RJD and Congress, have alleged that the voter list revision is being used to target poor voters and deprive them of their voting rights, accusing the government of attempting to implement NRC through this exercise.

However, the Election Commission has clarified that the purpose of SIR is solely to improve the accuracy of the voter list.

The matter has escalated legally, with petitions filed in the Supreme Court regarding the voter list revision process.

The Nitish Kumar cabinet on Tuesday approved the proposal to provide 1 crore jobs and employment opportunities to youth in Bihar during 2025-30.

The proposal, presented by the Labour Resources Department, was passed in the cabinet meeting.

To formulate a proper policy, a high-level committee under the chairmanship of the Development Commissioner has been constituted to explore employment options and provide consultations to the government.

The 12-member committee will include the Development Commissioner as chairman and secretaries of 11 departments as members.

However, clarity is still missing on the breakup between government jobs and other forms of employment within the 1 crore target.

When asked, Additional Chief Secretary (Cabinet Secretariat) S. Siddharth, about the specific number of government jobs included in the target, he stated that there is no clear information on this yet.

--IANS

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