Bihar cabinet doubles pension for ‘JP Senanis’, approves various other proposals

Patna: The Bihar government on Wednesday announced a two-fold increase in the pension amount for ‘JP Senanis’, political activists who had been imprisoned during the Emergency for supporting socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan's movement.

The proposal was cleared at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who himself was a key figure in the ‘JP movement’ that began in 1974, a year ahead of the proclamation of the Emergency.

“The pension for ‘JP Senanis’, who had spent more than six months behind bars, has been raised to Rs 30,000 per month from Rs 15,000, and for those who served shorter prison terms, it has been hiked from Rs 7,500 to Rs 15,000,” a senior official said.

A total of 3,354 ‘JP Senanis’ currently draw pension under the scheme.

The development comes ahead of the assembly elections in the state, due later in the year.

Kumar had launched the pension scheme named after Jayaprakash Narayan in 2009. Though the CM fulfils the criteria for the pension, he never applied for it.

RJD supremo Lalu Prasad is also one of the beneficiaries of the scheme.

The cabinet also gave its nod to acquire 2,627 acres of land at a cost of Rs 812 crore, aimed at expanding the industrial area network to boost investment and create employment opportunities, the official said.

Additional Chief Secretary (Cabinet Secretariat) S Siddharth said, “As part of the decision to expand the industrial areas in the state, 991 acres of land will be acquired at Rs 351 crore in Begusarai district, while 500 acres will be acquired at Rs 219 crore in Patna. The Infrastructure Development Authority will carry out the land acquisition for development of all the five industrial areas in the state.” The cabinet approved acquisition of 1,300 acres of land for the Integrated Manufacturing Cluster (IMC) being developed under the Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Project at Dobhi in Gaya Ji district, Siddharth said.

It also gave approval for setting up a Rs 35.14-crore factory to manufacture textile products in Gaya Ji. The project has the potential to generate direct and indirect employment for 237 skilled and unskilled people, he said.

“In order to develop and expand the airport network in the state, the cabinet also approved a proposal to carry out an Obstacle Limitation Surfaces (OLS) survey for development of six greenfield airports at Birpur (Supaul), Munger, Valmikinagar (West Champaran), Muzaffarpur, Saharsa and Bhagalpur,” Siddharth said.

An amount of Rs 290.91 crore has been sanctioned for the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for the purpose, he said.

Besides, the cabinet also sanctioned Rs 137.17 crore for acquisition of 18 acres of land for expansion of the Gaya Ji airport to install ‘CAT I Light’ system to facilitate the landing of aircraft during inclement weather conditions.

It approved another proposal to amend Rule 14 (telephone facility) of the Bihar Legislature (Salary, Allowance and Pension of Members) Rules 2006, dealing with furnishing bills for reimbursement.

The cabinet gave its nod to a proposal for the release of Rs 347.51 crore to the Rural Development Department for payment of increased honorarium to ‘JEEViKA Didis’, the official said.

‘JEEViKA Didis’ are women associated with self-help groups (SHGs) under a project that aims to empower the poor.