Bihar wins pre-poll bonanza: ₹2,500 cr & counting

State of Affairs

- PRASANTA SAHU

ELECTIONS ARE TIMES when governments loosen the purse strings. So, it is Bihar's time to fill its pockets. Even as the release of funds under various welfare schemes run by the Centre has just commenced for the new financial year, the poll-bound state has already cornered a tidy sum.

It is the only state to have received funds under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Rural so far this financial year. The eastern state, which has the lowest per capita income among Indian states, has got nearly ₹1,500 crore under the rural housing scheme.

Bihar has also got ₹1,000 crore out of the total ₹2,400 crore released by the Centre under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) so far this financial year, official sources said.