NEW DELHI: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Friday announced yet another sop ahead of the upcoming assembly elections, doubling the honorarium of education workers in the state.In a social media post on X, Nitish claimed that cooks, night watchmen, and physical education and health instructors have played a crucial role in strengthening the education system in the state, and announced an increment in their monthly salaries.“Cooks, night watchmen, and physical education and health instructors have played a crucial role in strengthening the education system. Keeping this in mind, we have decided to double the honorarium of these workers, making a respectable increase,” Nitish said.“The honorarium for cooks working under the mid-day meal scheme in the Education Department has been doubled from Rs 1,650 to Rs 3,300. Similarly, the honorarium for night watchmen working in secondary/higher education schools has been doubled from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000. Additionally, the honorarium for physical education and health instructors has been doubled from Rs 8,000 to Rs 16,000. Furthermore, their annual salary increment has been increased from Rs 200 to Rs 400. This will boost the morale of the workers, enabling them to carry out their duties with greater enthusiasm and dedication,” he added.Ahead of the upcoming assembly elections scheduled for the end of the year, CM Nitish has announced a series of social welfare initiatives aimed at expanding the safety net.In a recent move, the Bihar government announced a hike in the pension of accredited journalists under the Bihar Patrakaar Samman Pension Scheme. The state cabinet also approved a new domicile policy that limits the existing 35% reservation for women in government jobs to only those who are permanent residents of Bihar. In addition, the government has introduced a provision of 125 units of free electricity for domestic consumers.The Bihar government on Sunday also approved the formation of the State Sanitation Workers Commission to safeguard the rights of sanitation workers and ensure their welfare, rehabilitation, empowerment, and access to government schemes.