On Tuesday, the state cabinet approved the government’s proposal to provide housing for approximately four lakh women employees and officials, including schoolteachers, at or near their places of posting. Additionally, the cabinet authorized the creation of 8,147 new positions across various departments.
Following the cabinet meeting, S Siddharth, the additional chief secretary of the cabinet secretariat department, stated that the government’s decision to offer housing would benefit women working in the state secretariat, as well as in divisional, district, sub-divisional, and block offices, including school teachers in both urban and rural settings.
“The government’s aim is to provide affordable accommodation for women employees and officials at or near their places of posting,” Siddharth remarked, noting that this initiative would assist those stationed in state, district, and block offices, along with women schoolteachers. He further mentioned that private landlords interested in participating in the scheme must first submit an expression of interest to lease their properties, after which they will enter into a lease agreement with the appropriate sub-divisional officer (SDO).
A district-level committee will be formed, consisting of the District Magistrate (DM), Superintendent of Police (SP), the mayor of the urban local body, a representative from the building construction department, and the concerned SDO.
This committee will evaluate factors such as power supply, security, water, and sanitation of the buildings before allocating accommodation to women government employees, officers, and schoolteachers. Siddharth also mentioned that women employees, officials, and schoolteachers who wish to reside in accommodation under the scheme will need to submit a request letter to the relevant SDO, accompanied by endorsements from their heads of office.
Among the 8,147 new posts sanctioned by the cabinet, 8,093 are allocated for clerks, while one post is specifically aimed at enhancing each of the equal number of panchayat secretariat offices. The leftover positions consist of 36 additional roles for the sports injury wing at Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan Hospital, Rajbanshinagar, Patna, which currently has 267 approved posts.
Furthermore, 14 positions have been established in the agriculture marketing directorate, and four posts, which include roles for a senior pilot, an engineer, and a civil engineer, have been created within the aviation wing of the cabinet secretariat department. These positions will be contract-based and will offer increased honorariums. In other resolutions, the cabinet has ratified new guidelines for the issuance of advertisements by urban local bodies and has granted approval to identify and select nine tribes within the state.
Eligible individuals from these tribes will be able to take advantage of the PM-Awas Yojana for Adivasis (tribes). The cabinet has also authorized the initiation and establishment of nine mega skill development centres across the state as part of the first phase of the Saat Nishchay Part-II programme. For this project, the cabinet has allocated Rs 280 crore. These centres will be initially established in nine divisional cities: Patna, Gaya, Purnia, Saharsa, Bhagalpur, Munger, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, and Motihari.