Patna, July 30 Soon after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced a hike in the incentive amount for ASHA and Mamta workers, Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly Tejashwi Yadav accused the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government of "copying" initiatives he had proposed during his tenure as Health Minister.
In a strongly worded post on the social media platform X, Tejashwi alleged that the move was a delayed and partial implementation of his efforts.
"When I was the Health Minister for 17 months, I had initiated the process of increasing the incentive for ASHA and Mamta workers, which had reached its final stage. But the government and the Chief Minister, as usual, backed out. This useless NDA government kept the proposal on hold for two years. Now, under pressure, they are finally forced to act," Tejashwi said.
He further criticised the government for calling it an "incentive" rather than a full-fledged honorarium, stating: "We don't want them to just get incentive amounts - we will give them proper honorariums."
Tejashwi also asserted that the current government would now be "forced" to accept his demands for increasing the honorarium of Anganwadi workers/helpers and mid-day meal cooks.
Highlighting the RJD-led initiatives during his tenure, he said: "We had increased the honorariums of Vikas Mitras, Shiksha Mitras, Tola Sevaks, Talimi Markaz workers, and Panchayati Raj representatives."
Taking a sharp dig at the ruling coalition, he remarked: "Looking at our demands, announcements, and promises, it feels good to see the fear in this copycat, tired, blind, and visionless government. Were they peeling peanuts for the last 20 years?"
Tejashwi ended his post with a sarcastic jibe: "Will you copy everything from Tejashwi or will you use your brain too?"
Earlier, the Chief Minister declared that the ASHA workers will now receive an incentive of Rs 3,000, up from the earlier Rs 1,000, and Mamta workers will now get Rs 600 per delivery, instead of the existing Rs 300.
Notably, the Nitish government has announced a series of populist measures, including free electricity, increased pensions, and employment promises.
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