However, a closer examination of these pledges against the state's fiscal health and past initiatives raises critical questions about their feasibility.
The NDA's Grand Employment Vision
On October 31, 2025, the NDA, led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, unveiled its 'Sankalp Patra' for Bihar, placing massive employment and women's empowerment initiatives at its core.
The manifesto promises to create over one crore government jobs and employment opportunities. The plan includes conducting a skill census, establishing "Mega Skill Centres" in every district to position Bihar as a global skilling hub, and building new industrial parks and factories to boost the industrial landscape.
For women's empowerment, the alliance pledged to create one crore 'Lakhpati Didis'—women earning at least one lakh rupees annually—through financial assistance and support for entrepreneurship.
The Daunting Fiscal Arithmetic
While the promises are ambitious, the financial and structural reality of Bihar presents a formidable challenge. An analysis of the opposition's similar promise of one government job per household reveals the staggering scale.
Bihar has an estimated 27.6 million families. Providing a government job to each, even with a conservative average annual salary of ₹2.5 lakh, would incur a yearly cost of approximately ₹6.75 trillion. This figure is nearly double the entire state's budget outlay of ₹3.17 trillion for the fiscal year 2026.
Such a massive recurring expense would severely strain state finances. Committed expenditures like salaries, pensions, and interest payments already consume 42% of the state's revenue receipts. Adding this enormous burden would likely shatter the 3% fiscal deficit limit mandated by the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act.
Past Promises and Political Backlash
The NDA's manifesto has been met with sharp criticism from opposition leaders, who question its credibility based on the government's past track record.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, the chief ministerial face of the opposing Mahagathbandhan alliance, lambasted the manifesto, calling it a "report card of lies, deceit and hollow promises" made over the last 20 years. He challenged the NDA to issue a "Sorry Patra" (Letter of Apology) instead of a 'Sankalp Patra' (Letter of Resolution).
This criticism highlights the critical challenge of translating electoral promises into tangible outcomes, a hurdle that has persisted for previous administrations as well.
Structural Hurdles Beyond Finances
Beyond the financial constraints, deeper structural issues complicate the fulfillment of these job promises.
- Educational Eligibility: Bihar's literacy rate is 79.7%, but only 7.46% of its population holds a graduate degree or higher. This small fraction constitutes the primary pool eligible for most government posts, which typically require at least a matriculation or graduation certificate.
- Limited Formal Sector: Agriculture remains the largest employer in the state. The existing government workforce is concentrated in education, police, and health sectors, with a total of about 2.65 million government employees—a number far short of the tens of millions implied by the manifesto promises.
As Bihar prepares to vote, the grand promises of job creation have set the stage for a highly competitive election. While the NDA's manifesto outlines a bold vision for the state's future, the immense fiscal and structural challenges suggest that the path from promise to reality will be complex.
Voters are now left to weigh the appeal of these ambitious pledges against the practical realities of the state's economy and the government's past performance.
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