Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary on Monday, June 8, 2026, credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi with writing a 'new chapter' in poverty alleviation over the past 12 years, citing flagship central welfare schemes that he said have transformed the lives of crores of Indian families.

Context

Posting under the hashtag #12YearsOfGaribKalyan (12 Years of Poor Welfare), CM Choudhary stated that the Prime Minister had ensured 'the benefits of development reach the person standing in the last row of society' — samaj ke antim pankti mein khade vyakti tak. The post marks what the BJP is framing as a milestone anniversary of the Modi government's welfare agenda, which began with the party's electoral victory in May 2014.

The Chief Minister listed six specific interventions: Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana for permanent housing, PM Ujjwala Yojana for clean cooking fuel, PM-KISAN Samman Nidhi for farmer income support, Ayushman Bharat for health protection, free ration for food security, and Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) for transparent subsidy delivery.

Policy Backdrop

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, launched in June 2015, targets eligible rural and urban poor households with pucca (permanent) homes. PM Ujjwala Yojana, introduced in May 2016, extended LPG connections to women from below-poverty-line families, aiming to free them from the health hazards of cooking smoke.

Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, approved in March 2018, provides up to Rs 5 lakh annual health insurance cover per family for economically weaker sections. PM-KISAN, announced in the February 2019 interim budget and made operational from December 2018, delivers Rs 6,000 per year directly into the bank accounts of landholding farmer families. All these schemes share a common design architecture: Aadhaar-linked DBT to minimise leakages and periodic revision of beneficiary lists using SECC data.

Stakeholders and Impact

CM Choudhary claimed that 'approximately 25 crore citizens have come out of poverty and are participating in the development of a new India with dignity and confidence.' The research note flags this specific figure as unverified from established public records, and NationPress is unable to independently confirm it at this time.

The beneficiary base across these schemes spans poor urban and rural households, BPL women, and landholding farmers — a broad coalition that forms a significant electoral constituency in states such as Bihar. NITI Aayog's multidimensional poverty index has been the primary official benchmark for tracking progress, and updated reports from the body are expected to provide the next authoritative data point.

What's Next

The BJP's coordinated amplification of the #12YearsOfGaribKalyan narrative — with senior state leaders like the Bihar Chief Minister participating — signals a sustained messaging campaign around the welfare record ahead of future electoral cycles. Bihar, which has a large share of beneficiaries across each of the listed schemes, is a critical state for the party's national arithmetic.

Analysts and opposition parties are likely to scrutinise the poverty-reduction claims against forthcoming NITI Aayog data and any state-level implementation reviews of these schemes in Bihar. How the government substantiates the 25 crore figure with fresh official data will be closely watched as the welfare anniversary narrative builds.