Before the Bihar assembly elections-2025, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is making public welfare announcements one after the other. After increasing the pension of journalists and giving relief to domestic electricity consumers on Saturday, now the Nitish government has taken a historic step regarding the transgender community. The Chief Minister has ordered the formation of the Bihar State Safai Karamchari Commission, which will also include a female or transgender representative.
Formation of Safai Karamchari Commission
CM Nitish Kumar shared information on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday and wrote that he is happy to inform that he has given instructions to constitute the Bihar State Safai Karamchari Commission to protect the rights and interests of sanitation workers in the state of Bihar, welfare, rehabilitation, social upliftment, redressal of grievances and monitoring of various welfare government schemes. This commission will consist of a chairperson, a vice-chairperson and five members. At least one female or transgender member will be compulsorily included in it.
Role of the Commission
According to the Chief Minister, this commission will work to improve the condition of sanitation workers in the state, protect their rights, resolve complaints and give necessary suggestions to the government. Along with this, this commission will take responsibility for reviewing various welfare schemes and implementing them effectively. This decision is not only important for sanitation workers but also a historic initiative towards including the transgender community in the mainstream of society.
Importance of transgender representation
This is the first time that the Bihar government has announced a reserved place for the transgender community in a commission. This decision will give transgender persons an opportunity to participate in government policy making and strengthen their social acceptance.
These big announcements were made before this
Increase in pension for journalists
Amidst election preparations, CM Nitish announced a three-fold increase in the pension of journalists: Under the Bihar Patrakar Samman Pension Scheme, now eligible journalists will get a monthly pension of Rs 15,000 instead of Rs 6,000. On the death of a pensioner journalist, his family will now get a monthly pension of 10 thousand rupees instead of 3 thousand.
Relief to electricity consumers
Nitish Kumar has also given a big relief to electricity consumers. From August 1, 2025, all domestic consumers will be given free electricity up to 125 units. Its benefit will be available to 1 crore 67 lakh families of the state.
Prakash Kumar Pandey