Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. File
| Photo Credit: ANI
Putting education, especially higher education in the foreground of his government’s agenda, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday (February 4, 2026) said that a college will be opened in each of all the 534 blocks of the State to provide better access to higher education to students, especially girls.
Implementing fourth resolve titled “Unnat Shiksha, Ujjwal Bhavishya” (Advanced Education – Bright Future) under his ambitious ‘Saat Nischay-3’ programme, Mr. Kumar said that degree colleges will be opened in 213 out of 534 blocks of the State in the first phase and academic activities will commence from July 2026.
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“At present, out of the State’s 534 blocks, 213 blocks do not have any constituent or affiliated degree college. In line with our decision (to open degree college in each block), instructions have been issued to open degree colleges in all these 213 blocks in the first phase and to commence academic activities by July 2026,” Mr. Kumar said on his social media post on X.
It has also been decided to develop the State’s old and prestigious educational institutions as “Centres of Excellence”, Mr. Kumar said adding that a total of 55 educational institutions have been selected for the purpose.
“Planned and systematic steps are being undertaken for the upgrade of these prestigious institution. Instructions have also been issued to hold consultations with the experienced senior teachers and students of these institutions and seek their suggestions for proceeding with further action,” he said.
“The establishment of degree colleges in all blocks of the State will greatly facilitate girls in pursuing higher education,” he asserted.
“At the same time, developing prestigious educational institutions as “Centres of Excellence” will enable youth to access employment-oriented education and will also help restore the prestige of these institutions,” he said, adding that it will significantly contribute to the overall, multi-dimensional development of the State.
Education Department along with the newly created Higher Education Department got the highest allocation of ₹68,216.95 crore in the State’s Budget presented by Finance Minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav in the State Assembly on Tuesday (February 3, 2026). Education Department got an allocation of ₹60204.61 crore while the Higher Education Department got ₹8,012.34 crore.
The Budget 2026-27 also talked about opening a model school in each of the 534 blocks under Saat Nischay-3 programme. Besides, it also mentioned about developing an education city under the programme.
Soon after returning to power with a thumping majority in November 2025, Mr. Kumar took several key decisions including two major decisions of creating three new departments and rolling out the Saat Nischay-3 programme for sustained and overall development of the State.
On December 09, 2025, the State Cabinet had approved the creation of three new departments to ensure better and effective implementation of its schemes and policies. The three newly created departments are — Youth, Employment & Skill Development, Higher Education & Civil Aviation. The three departments are in addition to the existing 45 government departments at present.
Besides, the Cabinet had on December 16, 2025 given its nod for rolling out Saat Nischay-3 in next five years (2025-30) to bring Bihar in the category of developed States of the country.
In order to achieve the goal of growth with justice, the State Government has already implemented two Saat Nischay programmes since 2015 as part of good governance programme. The first and second Saat Nischay programmes were implemented between 2015-20 and 2020-25 respectively. It will be in continuation of the other two Saat Nischay programmes.
Published – February 05, 2026 11:53 am IST
