The Bihar Assembly elections are approaching, and political promises are raining down. The latest announcement comes from former Deputy CM and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, who promises that if his party comes to power, one member of every family will get a government job. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister of Bihar has promised to create one crore jobs.
Now consider that there are about 2.75 crore families in Bihar. If this promise is fulfilled, it would mean creating millions of new government jobs, leading to a substantial increase in government salary expenses.
Increasing Salary Expenses, Yet Lower Than Many States
Currently, Bihar spends over 15% of its total budget on employee salaries. According to PRS Legislative Research, this expenditure is increasing every year. The government estimates that this year it will rise to 17%, up from about 12% in 2018-19.
Source: aajtak
Despite Growth, Bihar's Ratio Remains Lower Than These States
Karnataka: 27.5%, Punjab: 24.8%, Maharashtra: 24.7%, Uttar Pradesh: 23.7%, Rajasthan: 22.1%, West Bengal: 21.5%, Tamil Nadu: 20.9%.
Source: aajtak
Rising Permanent Expenses Cause Concern
Even though Bihar's salary expense percentage remains lower than many states, the room for development spending is limited. The state's revenue expenditure has been increasing, while capital expenditure—money for infrastructure and development activities—has been dwindling.
In 2017-18, 75.2% of the total budget was allocated to revenue expenditure; this has now increased to 85.7%, while capital expenditure reduced from 24.8% to 14.3%.
Source: aajtak
Bihar's Increasing Debt
The economic burden on Bihar is growing. The outstanding debt compared to the total GSDP reached 37.1% in 2024-25. If election promises lead to increased expenditure, both the development plans and fiscal stability of the state could be adversely affected.
