Bihar Budget bets big on education

The Bihar government tabled the 2019-20 state Budget on Tuesday, and special emphasis has been given to improving education, infrastructure, health and energy sectors in the state. A lion's share of funds have been given to these heads in the proposed Rs 2 lakh crore Budget.

With 2019 and 2020 both elections for Bihar (Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha respectively), Finance Minister Sushil Kumar Modi announced a number of sops. Education received the biggest allocation of Rs Rs 34,798 crore, while Rs 17,900 crore has been allotted for road construction and rural works, Rs 9,622 crore for health, and Rs 8,894 crore for energy.

The government has also enhanced funds meant for the uniform and cycle-related schemes and grants to farmers, opened 11 new medical colleges in the state, and established the Bihar Road Research Institute and Forestry Institute.

Modi, presenting his 10th Budget, surprised the House with a generous dose of poetry, to much applause from the treasury benches. "Nasha pila ke girana to sab ko aata hai, mazaa to tab hai ki girto ko thaam le saaki," he said, highlighting the success of alcohol prohibition in the state.

He also said Bihar clocked the maximum growth rate of 11.3 per cent in the country, 4 per cent more than the national average. "A number of schemes and programmes launched by Bihar are emulated by others. What Bihar thinks today, India thinks tomorrow," he said.