Bihar News: Cabinet Greenlights Luxury Hotel Projects in Rajgir & Vaishali; Doubles Teacher Award, Slashes Exam Fees, Clears 2026 Holiday Calendar

The Bihar cabinet has approved the construction of two five-star hotels in Rajgir and a resort in Vaishali to improve tourist accommodation. This initiative aims to boost the local tourism sector and create employment opportunities.

The Bihar cabinet on Tuesday approved the construction of two five star hotels at Rajgir in Nalanda district and a five star resort in Vaishali district in PPP mode to provide better and quality accommodation to the tourists visiting these places.

As per the tourism department's proposal, two five star hotels will be constructed on 10 acres of land near Mela Maidan in Rajgir in Nalanda district while a five star resort will be developed on 10 acres of land at recently inaugurated Buddha Samyak Darshan Museum-cum-Memorial Stupa in Vaishali district, Cabinet Secretariat Department's Additional Chief Secretary S Siddharth told reporters in a post cabinet briefing here. The two hotels and a resort will be constructed and operated in accordance with the provisions of Infrastructure Development Enabling (Amendment) Act, 2023, he said and added that the land will be provided on "lease" to the private developer which will carry out construction of hotels on the said land.

Stating that a huge number of tourists visit several tourist places in Rajgir and Vaishali, Siddharth said that the construction of five star hotels and a resort will provide better amenities and quality accommodation to the tourist visiting the two aforementioned places. The decision to provide modern facilities and quality accommodation at tourist sites apart from the state capital will not only give boost to the tourism sector of the state but will also spur economic and social activities leading to creation of both employment and trade opportunities, a cabinet press note said.

In another important decision, the cabinet gave its nod to education department's proposal to double the amount of 'State Teacher Award' from Rs 15,000 to Rs 30,000. The award is given by the state government to teachers of primary, middle, secondary and higher secondary government schools for developing quality education system and also to motivate them for their good work, Siddharth said. Earlier, the number of recipients of the award used to be two-three but 42 teachers were given the state teacher award last year, he said while making it clear that the number of recipients could be more depending on the availability of able teachers as there is no cap with regard to how many teachers can be given this award.

It also decided to reduce the fee to Rs 100 for candidates appearing for Preliminary Test (PT) whereas no examination fee will be charged for mains, Siddharth said. The application fee for PT has been reduced to Rs 100 for various competitive exams such as Bihar Public Service Commission/Bihar Staff Selection Commission/Bihar Technical Service Commission/Bihar Police Sub-Ordinate Commission/Central Constable Selection Board, Bihar etc, he added. While the candidates clearing PT will not be charged any fee for the mains examination. It may be noted that Chief Minister in his independence day address announced about the fee reduction and fee waiver for PT and Mains exams held by various commissions to fill the different posts of government jobs.

2026 LEAVE APPROVED

The cabinet also approved the list of holidays for the calendar year of 2026 which will be applicable in all the government offices and all the revenue magistrate's courts. There will be 24 holidays in 2026 declared under The Negotiable Instruments Act 1881 in Bihar. The number of holidays given by administration order will be 11 in 2026. There will be 22 holidays in 2026 as per the list of optional/restricted holidays. Besides, there will be one day holiday on April 1, 2026 for annual bank closing holiday.

ROAD CONSTRUCTION

The cabinet also sanctioned Rs 363.99 crore for construction of a four lane 7.40 km long road including an ROB to connect Rajgir Sports Complex-cum-Rajgir International Cricket Stadium, ACS said. It also sanctioned Rs 539.19 crore for construction of 19.43 km long Salepur-Narsanda-Telmar-Karauta road (upto 224 km of NH-30) which will be converted into a four lane road instead of two lane road. The 19.43 km long stretch includes construction of two flyovers, two major bridges, 13 minor bridges, 19 RCC box culvert and 34 pipe culvert.

UPENDRA NATH VERMA'S BIRTH ANNIVERSARY- A STATE FUNCTION

It also decided to celebrate birth anniversary of late Upendra Nath Verma- educationist, social reformer, social worker- as "state function" every year on August 23 at a place where his statue has been installed on north west corner of Digghi talab in Gayaji town.

LAND TRANSFER FOR BSAP HEADQUARTERS & GRID SUB-STATION

It also approved Revenue and Land Reforms Department's proposal to transfer 46 acres of land to home department free of cost to construct Bihar Special Armed Police's corps headquarters while the department transferred another piece of 2 acres of land to Bihar State Power Transmission Company Ltd, Patna on payment of Rs 2.25 crore for construction of 132/33 KV Grid Sub-Station at Mauza Rasulpur under Chausa circle of Madhepura district, ACS said. A total of 16 decisions were approved at today's cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.