Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and RJD national spokesperson Subodh Kumar Mehta. (Source: FB)The Opposition in Bihar has accused the NDA government in the state of engaging in “ultra-populism”, blaming it for giving out doles to the tune of Rs 50,000 crore as the state faces a fund crunch.According to officials and contractors, several projects of rural works, road construction and public health engineering departments have been at least partially hit because of non-payment of dues to agencies assigned to execute the works.A contractor with the Rural Works Department told The Indian Express: “The government has been making part payment, citing paucity of funds. These are not region-wise or department-wise issues. This has been happening with at least half a dozen departments.”A Road Construction Department contractor said they were being “told to wait”. “We are constrained to stop work as several micro contractors cannot work without getting payment.The Rural Works and Road Construction Departments alone owe dues of about Rs 15,000 crore.Criticising the government on the matter, RJD national spokesperson Subodh Kumar Mehta said, “If a state having an annual revenue of Rs 65,000 crore goes to distribute doles worth over Rs 50,000 crore, such things are bound to happen.”Mehta said this reflects “policy paralysis” and that Bihar does not have sufficient “resource-generating projects as other states like Maharashtra and Gujarat have got from the Centre”.Story continues below this adBihar Congress spokesperson Asit Nath Tiwari said the situation was “paradoxical”. “On the one hand, CM Nitish Kumar carried out the Samriddhi (abundance) Yatra, but on the other, we are talking about empty coffers.”The ruling JD(U), however, said the fund crunch was temporary. The state government has used 100% of its funds allocation. Unlike the RJD regime, we have never engaged in excess withdrawal of funds in March. The government is committed to its welfare schemes as well. The current fund crunch is temporary,” JD (U) chief spokesperson Neeraj Kumar told The Indian Express.Just before the 2025 Bihar Assembly election, the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government had rolled out the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana (MMRY), under which around Rs 18,000 crore in total has been transferred to 1.82 crore eligible women in the state. The government is also offering Rs 5,000 crore in annual electricity subsidy to 1.89 crore consumers.A Bihar government official, however, said the schemes are not alone to blame for the fund crunch. “An excess dependence on the Centre and limited revenue generation are other reasons for the ‘March blues’,” the official said, adding that the state would spend nearly 45% of its total Budget on “fixed costs” — salaries, pensions, and interest on old loans — leaving very little to pay contractors or fund new departmental work.Story continues below this ad“This struggle is worsened because Bihar doesn’t earn much of its own revenue; it relies on the Central Government for about 74% of its cash. If there is a delay in this ‘allowance’, or if a department is slow in submitting ‘Utilisation Certificates’ (receipts proving how the last batch of money was spent), the flow of cash stops entirely due to strict accounting rules,” the official said.Another official, from the Finance Department, said, “The government often prioritises high-profile social welfare schemes over paying departmental dues when money gets tight. Because the state’s actual deficit often ends up being much higher than planned, they are forced to choose between keeping the public happy and paying builders and vendors. Finally, if a bill isn’t cleared by the March 31 deadline, the money ‘expires’ and must be re-applied for in the next year’s Budget, which creates a massive backlog of unpaid work.”Santosh Singh is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express since June 2008. Expertise He covers Bihar with main focus on politics, society and governance. Investigative and explanatory stories are also his forte. Singh has 25 years of experience in print journalism covering Bihar, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. ... Read MoreStay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:Bihar