In a major development, the Bihar Cabinet on Friday (June 14) gave a nod to the Education Department's proposal seeking the release of Rs. 774 crore for clearing the pending honorarium of around 30,000 'Shiksha Sevaks' and 'Talimi Markaz' who connect children belonging to Mahadalit, minorities, and extremely backward communities to formal school education.
The cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar gave green-signal to the proposal of withdrawing Rs 774.24 crore from the non-plan expenditure head, which is to be used to clear the pending honorarium of the 'Shiksha Sevaks' and 'Talimi Markaz' for the last several months on Friday.
Speaking to the media over the Cabinet's decision, S. Siddharth, Additional Chief Secretary (Cabinet Secretariat), said, "The decision has been taken for smooth implementation of the state government's 'Akshar Anchal Programme' aimed at ensuring the welfare of the Mahadalit, minorities, and extremely backward communities in the state."
"With this decision of the cabinet, around 30,000 'Shiksha Sevaks' and 'Talimi Markaz' will get their honorarium that has been pending for the last several months," he added.
It is pertinent to note that the 'Shiksha Sevaks' and 'Talimi Markaz' also work on implementing various developmental and welfare schemes of the government effectively in rural areas. Acting as bridges between the government and the families of Mahadalit, minorities, and extremely backward communities, they often worked as 'agents of change'.
Moreover, apart from announcing the clearance of honararium, the cabinet also approved an 'unemployment allowance' scheme for those who do not find work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act within fifteen days after applying.
"If a person applying for employment under the scheme is not employed within fifteen days, he or she will be entitled to get an unemployment allowance. It will be at least one-fourth of the minimum wage for the first 30 days and half of the minimum wage thereafter," the Additional Chief Secretary said.
Further, the state cabinet also approved an increase in the house rent allowance (HRA) of state government employees living in cities.
"Those state government employees posted in X category cities like Delhi and Mumbai will now get HRA of 30 percent of their basic salary; in Y category cities like Patna, employees will get 20 percent (earlier, it was 16 percent) of their basic salary as HRA. For Z-category cities, they will get 10 percent (earlier, it was eight percent) of their basic salary as HRA'', he said.
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