Who has given or can give more jobs in Bihar? A vacancy ad triggers new credit race

This is a direct counter to RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav’s claims. Tejashwi’s success in leading his party to single largest in Bihar in the 2020 Assembly elections was attributed largely to him centering his campaign around 10 lakh jobs and job opportunities. The game plan was repeated by the RJD leader in this year’s Lok Sabha polls, with Tejashwi claiming that in the 17 months he got as Deputy CM – before Nitish changed sides and joined the NDA in January this year – he had filled three lakh vacancies and could have done more if he had completed his term.

Tejashwi has been saying since that the Nitish government’s focus on jobs was his idea, and that the JD(U) supremo gave in to its pressure to fill vacancies.

While the RJD did not do as well in the Lok Sabha polls as it would have hoped, winning only four of the 40 seats in Bihar, Tejashwi’s popularity among youths has sustained on account of the job promise.

On Thursday, the General Administration Department of the Bihar government put out the vacancy list for 2.8 lakh jobs, to be filled as early as possible. Of these, as many as 1.39 lakh vacancies are in the Education Department alone; the department is already the biggest employer over the last three years, with over 2.5 lakh new staff being hired.

The next big employer as per Thursday’s advertisement will be the Home Department, with 22,730 vacancies, including 21,391 posts of constables; then the Health Department, with 12,169 vacancies; Water Resources Department with 4,939 vacancies; and the Panchayati Raj Department, with 4,070 vacancies. Besides, 11,783 positions have been advertised for various commissions, boards and corporations.

The last two big sets of appointments took place between 2020 and 2022 when about 2.5 lakh teachers were appointed. These remain the biggest hirings under Nitish’s long reign.

Incidentally, CM Nitish was photographed recently with folded hands before state DGP Alok Raj, apparently requesting him to fill vacancies for sub-inspectors and constables at the earliest.

Commenting on the same, Tejashwi posted on X: “It is a sign of a helpless, incapable and weak CM to fold hands before his officials regularly to get jobs of public interest done. The CM’s conduct shows there is no governance in the state. An imploring CM is not a good sign for a democratic set-up.”

RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tewari said Nitish’s tactics would not work. “The entire idea of job creation is that of Tejashwi Prasad Yadav. The same CM used to say that there are no funds to fill government vacancies. Now, Nitish Kumar is under pressure to perform. We are happy jobs are being given.”

Tewari added that as Tejashwi has been saying, an RJD government would not just ensure more jobs but also “electricity bill waivers” if it came to power in 2025.

JD(U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said there was widespread acknowledgement of the “Bihar model of governance”. “Some of Bihar’s initiatives have also been replicated by the Centre. Nitish Kumar has become a global figure for his trendsetting ideas. If someone thinks that he has emulated anyone, one is grossly mistaken.”