Ahead of Bihar polls: Nitish ups media pensions, BJP uses it to revive ‘sootr-mootr’ jibe

With Bihar elections around the corner, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has turned generous for journalists. On Saturday, he announced that the monthly pension for retired journalists would more than double, from Rs 6,000 to Rs Rs 15,000.

Started in 2019, the Bihar Journalist Samman Pension Scheme is meant for accredited journalists with over 20 years of experience at the district or state level. Under the new revision, if a journalist dies while receiving benefits, their spouse will also get Rs 10,000 per month, up from Rs 3,000.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Nitish said the move was part of his government’s consistent push for journalists’ welfare. “We have consistently prioritised journalists’ welfare, ensuring they can perform their duties impartially and live with dignity after retirement,” he said, calling the media “a vital pillar of democracy”.

But of course, no announcement in Bihar is complete without some potshots. The BJP’s Bihar unit used the opportunity to draw a sharp contrast with the opposition, claiming the NDA “respects journalists” – unlike “Lalu ke putra”. “Lalu’s son humiliates the media by calling sootr (sources) as mootr (urine),” it posted on X.

“They threaten to stop newspapers from reaching villages. And during the 1990s, under Lalu Prasad’s rule, journalists were directly assaulted.”

The BJP has repeatedly hit out at Tejashwi Yadav after he dismissed certain reports claiming the presence of foreign voters in Bihar's electoral rolls. “The commission says they got inputs or sutra (sources) about this. These are not sources, they are mutra,” Yadav had said.

Complaining about the media is easy. Why not do something to make it better? Support independent media and subscribe to Newslaundry today.