In a major pre-election announcement, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday declared a significant hike in pension benefits under the ‘Bihar Patrakaar Samman Pension Scheme’ for journalists and their dependent spouses.
Taking to social media platform X, Kumar said the monthly pension for all eligible journalists will be increased from Rs 6,000 to Rs 15,000. The pension for the dependent spouse of a deceased journalist has also been hiked from Rs 3,000 to Rs 10,000 for their lifetime.
“I am pleased to inform that under the ‘Bihar Patrakaar Samman Pension Scheme’, instructions have been given to the department to provide a monthly pension of Rs 15,000 instead of Rs 6,000 to all eligible journalists. Additionally, in the event of the death of journalists receiving a pension under the ‘Bihar Patrakaar Samman Pension Scheme’, instructions have been given to provide their dependent spouse with a monthly pension of Rs 10,000 instead of Rs 3,000 for their lifetime,” CM posted on X.
मुझे यह बताते हुए खुशी हो रही है कि बिहार पत्रकार सम्मान पेंशन योजना के तहत अब सभी पात्र पत्रकारों को हर महीने 6 हजार रू॰ की जगह 15 हजार रू॰ पेंशन की राशि प्रदान करने का विभाग को निर्देश दिया है। साथ ही बिहार पत्रकार सम्मान पेंशन योजना के अंतर्गत पेंशन प्राप्त कर रहे पत्रकारों की…
— Nitish Kumar (@NitishKumar) July 26, 2025
Journalists’ role in democracy
The Chief Minister further acknowledged the critical role of journalists in democratic governance and their contribution to social development.
“Journalists play a crucial role in democracy. They are the fourth pillar of democracy and have a significant role in social development. We have been taking care of journalists’ facilities from the beginning so that they can perform their journalism impartially and live with dignity after retirement,” he added.
Announcement comes ahead of Assembly polls
The announcement comes months ahead of the Bihar Legislative Assembly elections, expected to be held in October or November this year. While the Election Commission is yet to announce the official dates, political momentum is building in the state.
Meanwhile, the political atmosphere has heated up over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar’s electoral rolls, with the opposition INDIA bloc alleging voter list tampering. The issue has sparked a major political row both in the state and nationally.
On Friday, the Election Commission of Bihar said that 99.8 per cent of the state’s electors have been covered under the ongoing SIR process. The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) confirmed that forms of over 7.23 crore electors have been received and digitised. Their names will be included in the Draft Electoral Roll, which is set to be published on August 1, 2025.
