Bihar employment scheme: CM Nitish Kumar transfers ₹2,500 crore to 25 lakh women

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday (February 16, 2026) transferred ₹2,500 crore directly into the bank accounts of 25 lakh women beneficiaries under “Mukhya Mantri Mahila Rozgar Yojana” to start businesses of their own choice.

With this, the Nitish Kumar-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has, so far, transferred ₹18,100 crore into the bank accounts of 1.81 crore women beneficiaries at the rate of ₹10,000 to each beneficiary under the scheme.

Mr. Kumar transferred ₹2,500 crore at the rate of ₹10,000 to each of the beneficiary’s accounts at the click of a remote button. 

Both Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, Water Resources Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary, Rural Development Minister Shrawan Kumar and a host of other senior officials including CM’s Principal Secretary Deepak Kumar and Chief Secretary Pratyaya Amrit were also present at the function held at CM’s official residence 1, Aney Marg in Patna.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 26, 2025, while launching the scheme, had transferred ₹7,500 crore to the bank accounts of 75 lakh women beneficiaries via video-conferencing from New Delhi. 

The State Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, had on August 29, 2025, approved a scheme “Mukhya Mantri Mahila Rozgar Yojana” to ensure economic empowerment of women in the State. 

Under the scheme, a woman from each family given as the first instalment of ₹10,000 as assistance to start a business of her own choice, creating employment opportunities in the State itself. 

The scheme envisaged the provision of giving up to ₹2 lakh to the women entrepreneurs who will be successful in her venture following the evaluation of the performance of their entrepreneurial ventures after six months. The State Cabinet had on January 29 last given the nod to begin the process to give additional financial assistance of up to ₹2 lakh to the selected beneficiaries. 

Welcoming women beneficiaries connected through video-conferencing in large numbers on the occasion, Mr. Kumar said that “It’s a matter of great happiness that the amount of ₹10,000 each is being transferred into the bank accounts of 25 lakh women beneficiaries to carry out business of her own choice.”

“A very large number of women have started business of their own choice with the financial assistance given under the scheme. The government would give additional financial assistance of up to ₹2 lakh to those women who will successfully carry out their business venture,” Mr. Kumar said while adding that the amount (of ₹10,000) will be transferred soon into the accounts of remaining families under the scheme. 

Stating that his government has always given emphasis on “women’s empowerment” from the beginning. Out of 1.56 crore beneficiaries of the scheme, 1.44 crore beneficiaries belong to rural areas while 12 lakh beneficiaries in urban areas. With 25 lakh beneficiaries getting ₹10,000 each today, the total number of beneficiaries would increase from 1.56 crore to 1.81 crore.

Beneficiaries of “Mukhya Mantri Mahila Rozgar Yojana”, Chandu Bharti, a resident of Muzaffarpur district, Shabeena Khatoon a resident of Nalanda district shared their experiences of how they got benefits from various schemes launched by the State Government including ‘Mahila Rozgar Yojana’. 

Ms. Bharti said that ₹10,000 proved to be of immense help for her as she bought a cow after adding ₹10,000 taken as loan to the sum received under Mahila Rozgar Yojana. 

Stating that she has started earning income from the sale of milk, she said that she would open a “sewing centre” and provide training to other women sewing and stitching, thus she would not only be earning money but would help others also earn money.