Bihar cabinet approves honorarium hike for ANMs, doubles scholarship, clears key projects

In a significant pre-election move, the Bihar government has approved a series of welfare and infrastructure development proposals, including an increase in the monthly honorarium for contractual Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) workers in urban areas from Rs 11,500 to Rs 15,000. The decision was taken during a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday, which saw approval of 129 proposals in total.

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Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) of the Cabinet Department, Arvind Kumar Choudhary, said the revised honorarium would include a 5% annual increment, aimed at strengthening the state’s vaccination efforts. In another key decision, the cabinet doubled the annual scholarship for Class 9 and 10 students belonging to the general category (including minorities) under the Mukhyamantri Balak/Balika Scholarship scheme. The scholarship amount has been increased from Rs 1,800 to Rs 3,600 per student, resulting in an estimated additional annual expenditure of Rs 99.21 crore.