Patna — In a major pre-poll announcement, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, vowed to regularize all contractual government employees across Bihar if the INDIA bloc comes to power. Addressing reporters in Patna on Wednesday, he stated that nearly two lakh ‘community mobilisers’ working under the state’s World Bank-aided Bihar Rural Livelihoods Project (Jeevika) would be given permanent status and assured a monthly salary of ₹30,000.

Tejashwi further promised financial relief for women associated with the Jeevika initiative — popularly known as ‘Jeevika Didis’. He said that the interests on loans taken by these women would be completely waived once the opposition alliance assumes office. The RJD leader emphasized that this step aims to empower rural women economically and socially, reducing their dependency on high-interest microloans and creating stable livelihoods across villages.

The Jeevika project, spearheaded by the Bihar government with World Bank support, focuses on improving the standard of living for rural women through self-help groups and sustainable community-based enterprises. With Assembly elections scheduled for November 6 and 11 and vote counting on November 14, Tejashwi’s announcement is seen as a strategic push to consolidate women and rural worker votes ahead of the polls.