PATNA: Freebies, especially welfare schemes that take the form of cash incentives, are now virtually the norm in elections. Little surprise then chief minister Nitish Kumar has deployed them in Bihar, hoping it will blunt both anti-incumbency and opposition criticism on unemployment.Nitish is giving 125 units of electricity free to every household per month. He has announced a stipend of Rs 1,000 per month for unemployed youth for up to two years and has increased monthly social security pension from Rs 400 to Rs 1,100 for widows and the elderly, covering 1.12 crore families in the state.

The CM has sought to counter the opposition’s promise of Rs 2,500 per month for women by launching the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana, with PM Narendra Modi transferring Rs 10,000 each to 75 lakh women associated with over 11 lakh jeevika self-help groups. Seen as a masterstroke by many, this closely followed the launch of Bihar Rajya Jeevika Nidhi Credit Cooperative Federation to provide loans at subsidised interest rates to 1.4 crore members of jeevika self-help groups and doubling salary of SHG employees.Over the last two months, scarcely have two days passed without the BJP-JDU coalition announcing a scheme for one section of the population or another. The Nitish govt has raised the honorarium for 95,000 Asha and 4,600 Mamta workers as well as introduced a raft of schemes for women, like pink toilet, pink bus, gym on wheels, women’s market, kanya mandap for marriage of poor girls, girls’ hostel, and a subsidy for women purchasing e-rickshaws.Women voters have been inclined to support Nitish, so the outreach was expected. Nitish has also introduced 50% quota for women in panchayat and urban local bodies’ elections and 35% reservation for them in police recruitment.NDA also hopes to cash in on the flurry of development projects launched by the Modi govt to drive home the PM’s argument about the benefits of a “double engine sarkar”.