With Bihar Assembly elections scheduled for November 6 and 11, 2025, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav has announced three major promises targeting transformative changes in the state. The former Deputy Chief Minister held a press conference in Patna, unveiling ambitious schemes focused on employment generation, women empowerment, and economic justice.
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Promise 1: Permanent Jobs and ₹30,000 Monthly Salary for Jeevika Didis
Tejashwi Yadav’s first major announcement targets the approximately two lakh Jeevika Community Mobilisers (CM Didis) working under the Bihar Rural Livelihoods Project. Currently, these women work on a contractual basis for the World Bank-aided Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society (BRLP), also known as ‘Jeevika’, which aims to empower the rural poor socially and economically.
Addressing the press conference, Tejashwi stated, “All of you are aware that injustice was done to the Jeevika Didis under this government. We have decided that all Jeevika CM Didis will be made permanent and accorded the status of government employees. This is not an ordinary announcement—it has been the long-standing demand of Jeevika Didis”.
The Jeevika program currently operates in 34,043 villages across 534 blocks and 38 districts of Bihar, with more than 912,124 Self-Help Groups reaching nearly 90 lakh families in rural Bihar.
Promise 2: Permanent Employment for All Contractual Workers
Tejashwi Yadav’s second major promise addresses the exploitation faced by approximately 1.5 to 2 lakh contractual employees working across various Bihar government departments through outsourcing agencies.
Contractual Workers’ Benefits:
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All contractual and outsourced workers will receive permanent government employee status
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Full job security with protection against arbitrary termination
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Elimination of the 18% GST deduction currently applied to their salaries
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Proper leave entitlements including mandatory time off for female employees
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End to commission-based exploitation by outsourcing agencies
Tejashwi accused the current National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government of widespread corruption, alleging that “various departments make huge payments to outsourcing companies, but these firms don’t even pay half the sanctioned amount to employees. The rest goes as commission to ministers, senior officials, and decision-makers”.
He referenced his previous track record during the 17-month Mahagathbandhan government (2015-2017) when he served as Deputy Chief Minister, stating, “During our Grand Alliance government, we regularised contractual teachers despite criticism from Sushil Kumar Modi, who said it wasn’t possible. We proved it could be done—and we’ll do the same for contractual workers”.
Promise 3: One Government Job Per Family Within 20 Months
Reiterating his flagship promise, Tejashwi Yadav committed to ensuring every household in Bihar without a government job will receive employment for at least one family member within 20 months of the Mahagathbandhan forming the government.
Implementation Timeline:
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A new legislation will be enacted within 20 days of government formation
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Complete implementation ensuring no household remains without government employment within 20 months
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Focus on addressing Bihar’s high unemployment rate, estimated at over 7%
“We will ensure that every household will have a person with a government job after our government comes to power. We will make a new act for it within 20 days of forming the government, and in 20 months, not a single house will be without a government job,” Tejashwi emphasized at the press conference.
He challenged the current government’s record, stating, “20 years this outdated government never paid attention to the fact that unemployment is the biggest issue. They are now talking about unemployment allowance, but still not talking about jobs”.
Additional Welfare Schemes: MAA and BETI Yojana
Beyond the three major promises, Tejashwi also unveiled two comprehensive welfare schemes specifically targeting women empowerment:
MAA Yojana (Makaan, Anna, Aamdani):
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M = Makaan (House): Providing housing for needy women
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A = Anna (Food grains): Ensuring adequate nutrition and food security
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A = Aamdani (Income): Creating sustainable income sources
BETI Yojana (Benefit, Education, Training, Income):
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B = Benefit: Direct financial benefits for girls
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E = Education: Educational support from birth
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T = Training: Skill development programs
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I = Income: Employment opportunities ensuring earning capacity
These schemes supplement the previously announced “Mai Bahin Maan Yojana,” which promises ₹2,500 monthly assistance to women.
Political Context and Election Timeline
The Bihar Assembly elections will be held in two phases—November 6 and 11, 2025—with vote counting scheduled for November 14. The state has 7.43 crore voters, including 14 lakh first-time voters, across all 243 assembly constituencies.
Tejashwi Yadav leads the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance), which includes RJD, Congress, CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML), and VIP, challenging the incumbent National Democratic Alliance comprising BJP, JD(U), LJP (Ram Vilas), HAM (Secular), and RLM.
During the 2020 Bihar elections, the RJD emerged as the single largest party with 75 seats, though the Mahagathbandhan fell short of the 122-seat majority required to form the government. Tejashwi served as Deputy Chief Minister from August 2022 to January 2024 when Nitish Kumar switched alliances from Mahagathbandhan to NDA.
Criticism of NDA Government
Tejashwi launched sharp attacks on the NDA government, particularly targeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s characterization of the ₹10,000 given to women under the “Mai Bahin Maan Yojana” as “seed money.” He called it a “loan” that would be recovered after elections, contrasting it with his promise of genuine monthly assistance without repayment obligations.
“Bihar’s people are tired of corruption, crime, unemployment, and migration. The double-engine government is copying our schemes, but people know the difference between original and fake,” Tejashwi stated.
With these three major promises—permanent jobs for Jeevika Didis with ₹30,000 monthly salary, regularization of contractual workers, and one government job per family—Tejashwi Yadav has positioned employment generation and economic justice as central themes of his election campaign, directly challenging the incumbent government’s two-decade governance record in Bihar.
