Tejashwi Yadav faces uphill task of fulfilling pledges

Nawal Kishore Chaudhary, a former Patna University economics department head, said Yadav faces an uphill but not an impossible task

Deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav promised to fulfil electoral pledges, which included one million jobs, and said the progress will visible in within a month when he took oath on Wednesday even as experts cited Bihar’s economic condition and said it will be difficult to fulfil the promises given the state’s little revenue generation.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar with his deputy Tejashwi Yadav during their swearing-in ceremony on Wednesday. (PTI)

“Chief minister Nitish Kumar will have to make Yadav realise the practicability aspect,” said a financial analyst involved in preparing reports on the state finances. He added a sizable portion of Bihar’s annual ₹2,15 lakh crore budget comes from the central share of revenues and financial assistance. “The state has the lowest per capita income in the country of ₹31,017 compared to ₹86,659 nationally.”

Nawal Kishore Chaudhary, a former Patna University economics department head, said Yadav faces an uphill but not an impossible task. “The government needs to work on out-of-the-box ideas to generate revenue and rearrangement of funds. I give Yadav the benefit of doubt...”

Ahead of the 2020 assembly polls, Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) focussed on unemployment and promised one million government jobs. Experts said it will require an additional recurring expense of around ₹10,000 crore to keep the pledge. The party also promised to restore the pension scheme and introduce equal pay for equal work for about one million contractual staffers and pensioners.

The government’s pension budget is expected to rise to ₹10,000 crore annually if the pledge is implemented. It currently spends ₹21,942 crore on salaries and ₹19,635 crore on pensions.

Experts said RJD’s promise of the waiver of examination fees and reimbursement of fares for reaching examination centres is doable. They added that RJD’s pledge to provide higher minimum support prices and farm loan waiver will cost the government ₹960 crore as per a 2020 government estimate.

RJD emerged as the single-largest party in the 2020 polls but the coalition it led fell short of the majority. It returned to power after Kumar ended his alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and formed the government with the help of the RJD-led grouping this week.