Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar during the Pragati Yatra in Nalanda on Thursday
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday (February 20, 2025) inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of 263 developmental schemes worth ₹820.72 crore in his home district Nalanda during his ongoing Pragati Yatra .

He inaugurated 177 schemes worth ₹ 361.66 crore and laid the foundation stone for 86 schemes worth ₹ 459.05 crore.

After the inauguration, Mr. Kumar held a review meeting at Shaheed Hardev Bhawan in Biharsharif regarding the developmental schemes in Nalanda.

“Today I have visited many places and seen the development works. We will tell the officials to ensure further action. Our aim is to make Bihar progress in every sector. Remember the development work I have done in Bihar after 2005,” Mr. Kumar told officials during the review meeting.

He credited former Prime Minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee for making him the Chief Minister of Bihar.

“You all are aware of the condition of Bihar before 2005. People were afraid to step out of their homes after dusk. There were frequent fights between Hindus and Muslims, which we ended. There was no arrangement for treatment in hospitals and roads were dilapidated. The condition of education was not good. When the people of Bihar gave us a chance to work, the condition of Bihar has changed,” Mr. Kumar said.

He said that developmental work had been done in every field and the atmosphere of fear and terror has ended in Bihar. “An atmosphere of peace and brotherhood prevails. Earlier, the condition of electricity in Bihar was very pathetic. There was hardly any electricity in rural areas,” Mr. Kumar said.

Fencing graveyards

Listing out the work done for the Muslims in Bihar, Mr. Kumar said that from 2006, he started the work of fencing graveyards and so far, more than 8,000 graveyards have been fenced. He said that 1,273 more graveyards have been identified, out of which 746 graveyards have been fenced.

He also listed out work done for Hindus. “We used to witness the incidents of idol theft from temples, in view of this, I decided to build boundary walls around temples older than 60 years so that incidents of theft do not happen in temples. We have not left any work unfinished. We are getting a lot of support from the central government as well,” Mr. Kumar said.

The Chief Minister also said that 50 percent reservation was given to women in Panchayati Raj Institutions since 2006 and in municipal bodies from 2007.

He also inaugurated the 100-bed girls hostel building at the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya located in Bind block. The hostel was built at a cost of ₹218.20 lakh. After inspecting the sports ground built in the school premises, Mr. Kumar interacted with the players asking them to study and play with full concentration.

Mr. Kumar later inspected the pond renovated under the Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali Abhiyan Yojana in Nanand village of Silav block. He also saw the Hunar Pustakalaya Bhawan and interacted with the boys and girls studying there and encouraged them to study.