
On Tuesday, the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar announced that it had successfully filled nearly 7,000 vacant posts across various departments, many of which had remained unfilled for years due to legal challenges. The recruitment drive was launched after years of legal wrangling and was marked by the distribution of appointment letters to 6,341 junior engineers (JEs) who will be posted in eight different departments.
The recruitment ceremony, attended by Bihar's Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, also saw 496 instructors (anudeshaks) receiving their appointment letters for the Labour Department. The Department of Water Resources, overseen by senior JD(U) leader Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, acted as the nodal agency for the recruitment of junior engineers. Chaudhary explained that the majority of the posts had been advertised back in 2019 by the Bihar Technical Service Commission but had faced legal hurdles.
“Many aspirants, including those already working on a contractual basis or holding diplomas from non-government institutions, had challenged the recruitment process in the Patna High Court and the Supreme Court,” Chaudhary noted. He added that after the Chief Minister’s intervention, the state submitted a proposal to resolve the impasse, which was eventually approved by the Supreme Court.
The newly filled positions are spread across various departments, with the Water Resources Department accounting for the largest share, hiring 2,338 junior engineers. Other key departments include Planning and Development (1,273 posts), Rural Works (759), and Road Construction (503).
Chaudhary emphasised the government’s focus on development since Nitish Kumar assumed the chief minister’s office in 2005. "Development has been our only agenda. The opposition has no choice but to admit the progress or risk political blunders," he said, indirectly targeting RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, who has served as deputy CM in past alliances.
On the eve of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Patna, Chaudhary criticized Gandhi for undermining his party, particularly regarding the caste census initiative, which he attributed to Nitish Kumar's leadership.