'Proud of Bihar Regiment's fight': PM Modi lauds valour and sacrifice of soldiers

Ladakh stand-off was in the mind of Prime Minister Narendra Modi even while he was launching a mega employment scheme for rural workers, on Saturday.

"Everyone is proud of Bihar Regiment's valour. Each and every Bihari is very proud of it," he said as he launched an employment scheme from which Bihar would be a key beneficiary. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also joined the event through video conferencing.

The bulk of the fatalities and injury in the India-China violent clash was from Bihar regiment, which also lost its Commanding Officer Colonel B. Santosh Babu.

Launch of job scheme worth Rs 50,000 crore

The scheme worth Rs 50,000 crore is aimed at the returnee migrant workers and is a massive rural public employment scheme which seeks to provide livelihood opportunities.

Joining the video conference, Nitish Kumar said, "During the lockdown, I interacted through video conference with labourers in different districts after they returned to the state. I realised that they don't want to go elsewhere for work".

The migrant crisis emerged as a political headache for the BJP-JDU combine in the state which will go to polls later this year. This scheme is expected to address much of its socio-economic concerns.

At least 25,000 migrant workers who reached back home in the wake of the pandemic will be benefited in states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Odisha. UP and Bihar took the bulk of the load of the reverse migration.

The scheme that seeks to give means to these migrant workers to earn a living will involve intensified implementation of 25 different types of works which in turn will create rural infrastructure.