In a bid to woo the backward and minority community members in the state ahead of the poll year, Bihar on Tuesday rolled out a slew of schemes for students hailing from the Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Extremely Backward Castes (EBC), Other Backward Castes (OBC) and Minorities.

Primary among these sops were financial aid to SC-ST students, who clear the Union and state civil services exams. “The students who clear UPSC Prelims will get Rs one lakh while those who clear BPSC Prelims will get Rs 50,000 as a grant to buy books, enroll in coaching and prepare for the Mains exam. The money will be directly transferred to the bank account of the beneficiaries,” said Bihar Chief Secretary Anjani Kumar Singh.

Officials said around 1,500 SC-ST students had cleared the BPSC while 200 had passed the UPSC Prelims in the last held exam. The scheme will be extended to only Bihar natives.

The decision was taken at a meeting of state cabinet ministers chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna on Tuesday.

Among the other benefits include - Rs 1,000 grant per month to students in SC-ST hostels in the state and 15-kilogram food grain (wheat and rice) to students in SC-ST, EBC-OBC and Minority hostels.

Around 12,000 students reside in over 175 such hostels in Bihar. “The total scheme will cost around Rs 10 crore to the state exchequer, but it will be increased as per the requirements,” Singh said.

The cabinet also approved that the schemes of Bihar Mahadalit Vikas Mission should benefit to all scheduled castes, extending the benefits of the Mahadalits to the only remaining schedules caste - Paswan.