Patna: The state govt is preparing to expand its civil services incentive scheme to cover women from all categories who clear the preliminary examinations of UPSC, BPSC and several other competitive exams.The scheme, run under the Mukhyamantri Nari Shakti Yojana, has benefited 4,513 women since 2021-22 with more than Rs 23 crore distributed so far, according to Sunday’s communiqué from the social welfare department.Of the beneficiaries, 146 cleared the UPSC civil services preliminary examination, while 4,367 cleared the BPSC preliminary examination. Under the existing scheme, women clearing the UPSC prelims receive Rs 1 lakh for preparation for the mains, while BPSC prelims qualifiers are given Rs 50,000.The proposed expansion will remove the existing category restrictions, enabling eligible women from the general, economically weaker section (EWS) and backward classes to avail the assistance. The department said the move was aimed at ensuring financial constraints do not prevent talented candidates from preparing for the next stage of competitive examinations.State social welfare minister Dr Shweta Gupta said the govt wanted to ensure financial circumstances did not become a barrier for women preparing for competitive examinations. The assistance would help candidates meet expenses on coaching, study material, examination fees and other preparation-related requirements, she said.The expanded scheme is also proposed to cover several other competitive examinations. Women clearing designated UPSC examinations, including the Indian Engineering Service, Indian Economic Service, Indian Statistical Service and Combined Geo-Scientist examination, will be eligible for incentives ranging from Rs 75,000 to Rs 1 lakh.Candidates clearing the preliminary examinations of Combined Defence Services (CDS), National Defence Academy (NDA), CBI and state civil services conducted by other states will receive Rs 50,000 under the proposal.An incentive of Rs 30,000 has been proposed for candidates clearing designated preliminary examinations for RBI Grade B, SBI CGL and railway recruitment.The proposed expansion will also bring selected examinations conducted by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC), state public service commissions, banking recruitment agencies, Life Insurance Corporation of India and Railway Recruitment Boards under the scheme.
