2 lakh Jeevika Didis, all other ‘contract workers’ in Bihar govt shall be made permanent: Tejashwi

“This kind of awareness towards women’s rights is rarely seen. The government has been taking work from Jeevika Didi but never paid for the work,” said Priyanka Bharti, RJD’s national spokesperson.

She was responding to chief ministerial hopeful Tejashwi Yadav’s pledge that the INDIA bloc would ensure that all contractual workers across Bihar’s government departments — including nearly 2 lakh ‘Jeevika Didis’, who serve as community mobilisers — will hold permanent positions if the Opposition alliance win the upcoming assembly election.

He also announced that the mobilisers a monthly salary of Rs 30,000 for the Jeevika Didis, with interests on their loans waived, plus eligibility for interest-free credit for two years, an additional allowance of Rs 2,000 and Rs 5 lakh worth of insurance.

Yadav stated, “Once we form our government, Jeevika CM (community mobiliser) Didis will be made permanent and a salary of Rs 30,000 per month will be given to them. The interest on the loans taken by Jeevika Didis will be waived off. For the next two years, Jeevika Didis will be given interest-free credit. Jeevika Didis will also be given an additional Rs 2,000 allowance. All Jeevika Didis will get insurance worth Rs 5 lakh...”.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal leader’s promises target women employed through the World Bank-aided Bihar Rural Livelihoods Project (BRLP), known locally as Jeevika, aimed at empowering the rural poor. The women who recruit to and steer the community projects are called ‘Jeevika Didis’, and their demands for job security (through ‘permanent’ status) and better pay have featured prominently in campaign discussions.

At a press conference in Patna today to announce his poll promises, Yadav criticised the current Nitish Kumar-led NDA government for their injustice against Jeevika Didis and reasserted that the INDIA parties would prioritise marginalised groups while implementing policies for employment and social security.

Bihar’s 243-member assembly will vote in two phases on 6 and 11 November respectively, with counting on 14 November. The race between the ruling NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc remains close, as both sides vie for support among key constituencies — including women, and not just these women community mobilisers either.

RJD has fielded 24 women among its 143 candidates, and identified women on the list include:

• Renu Kushwaha (Bihariganj)

• Anita Devi Mahato (Warsaliganj)

• Mala Pushpam (Hasanpur)

• Sandhya Rani Kushwaha (Madhuban)

• Dr Karishma Rai (Parsa)

• Bima Bharti (Rupauli)

• Rekha Gupta (Bankipur)

• Sweety Sima Hembram (Katoria, an ST-reserved seat)

• Shweta Suman (Mohania, an SC-reserved seat)

• Savitri Devi (Chakai)

• Chandni Devi Singh (Baniapur)

• Vajayanti Devi (Atri)

• Pinki Chaudhary (Rajauli, another SC-reserved seat)

• Shivani Shukla (Lalganj)

• Veena Devi (Mokama)

• Dr Ejya Yadav (Mohiuddinnagar)

• Prema Chaudhary (Patepur, another SC-reserved seat)

• Rekha Paswan (Masaurhi, also SC-reserved)

• Purnima Devi (Gobindpur)

• Ishrat Parveen (Pranpur)

• Smita Purve Gupta (Parihar)

There are a few more female candidates from the INDIA bloc, of course. The Congress has 5 (out of a total of 61 seats it is contesting), for a start.

Details of education, marital status, work experience and whether they’re first‑time candidates haven’t been fully declared yet, but should make for interesting evaluation — especially as the NDA also has been making a fuss about the importance of women in the state.

Both the BJP and the JDU, the two biggest NDA allies, have fielded 13 women each out of their quota of 101 seats respectively. That’s 26 between them, plus another 6 from the LJ-P and the rest from other parties brings the total to 36.

It is interesting (and a little concerning, surely) to see the INDIA bloc not quite manage to outdo them in numbers at least, with a total of 32 — both sides remaining well below the 33 per cent parliamentary quota the Opposition pushed so hard for last year. Especially disappointing given the women legislators of Bihar stood up and demanded a 50 per cent representation back in 2017 (the gender makes up just about 47 per cent of the population per the 2011 census, but it needs no survey to know true representation requires about half the assembly to be female).

The highest actual representation women in Bihar have been allowed in the assembly was in 2010’s NDA victory, with 34 women candidates winning their seats.

Also of interest to political observers, however, was the apparent ‘slip of tongue’ from Yadav — who first mentioned ‘when Tejashwi is chief minister’, before amending his statement to an ‘INDIA bloc win’. Thus far, the Opposition alliance has maintained the CM shall be chosen collaboratively — but positioning Yadav as the figurehead through the bloc’s Voter Adhikar Yatra alongside Rahul Gandhi has made him rather the obvious candidate. But humility and respect to allies did also call for Yadav to bide his time and not foreground himself... something he hasn’t always managed to do.

This is an especially precarious time to slip up, though, when the INDIA bloc parties have multiple alliance candidates vying for the same seat in places.

But then, who can blame the former deputy chief minister of Bihar when the ruling NDA and Nitish Kumar have pretty much mounted a vendetta against his family, and a suspiciously well-timed IRCTC probe underway and claiming ‘success’.