Nitish Kumar retains Civil Aviation as Bihar creates three new departments

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has distributed portfolios for the newly created departments, retaining the Civil Aviation portfolio himself, stated a government notification.

Bihar gets three new departments

The move follows the Bihar cabinet’s decision on December 9 to approve the creation of three new departments-Youth, Employment and Skill Development; Higher Education; and Civil Aviation- along with the renaming of three existing departments.

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As part of the reorganisation, the Animal and Fisheries Resource Department has been renamed the Dairy, Fisheries and Animal Resources Department, while the Labour Resources Department is now the Labour Resources and Migrant Workers Welfare Department. The Art, Culture and Youth Department has also been renamed as the Art and Culture Department.

Portfolios allocated

The notification issued on December 12 further stated that the CM allocated the portfolio of the Youth, Employment and Skill Development Department to Sanjay Singh 'Tiger', who is holding the portfolio of Labour Resources and Migrant Workers Welfare Department.

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State Education Minister Sunil Kumar has been given the portfolio of the newly created Higher Education Department. The CM has kept the Civil Aviation Department with himself, the notification said.

What Nitish said

The CM had recently announced on X the state government's decision to create three new departments.

"We have set a target to provide jobs to one crore youth over the next five years (2025-30). For this, it's essential that more youth be trained for skill development. Instructions have been given to create three new departments: Youth, Employment and Skill Development Department, Higher Education Department, and Civil Aviation Department," the CM had said.

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On the need for a dedicated Higher Education Department, Kumar had said its objective was to "bring about qualitative improvement in learning, promote research and innovation, develop technical and vocational education, and ensure that youth from all sections of society receive quality employment-oriented education".

On the Civil Aviation Department, the CM had written, "All of you know that the construction of several new airports is underway in the state, and in the future, under the UDAN scheme, construction of many new airports has been proposed. The creation of the Civil Aviation Department will accelerate this, enhance the industrial environment, create employment opportunities, and help in the export of products manufactured in the state".

(With agency inputs)