Patna, July 14 -- The Bihar government will provide jobs and employment opportunities to 10 million youngsters over the next five years, chief minister Nitish Kumar said on Sunday, with the announcement coming just months before the crucial assembly polls in the state. Kumar, who has announced several welfare and financial initiatives over the last few weeks, added that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)-led state government will set up the Jananayak Karpuri Thakur Skill University in a bid to impart skill development training to connect youths with self-employment opportunities in the next five years. "For the next five years, we are setting a target to double the 2020-25 goal by providing government jobs and employment opportunities to one crore (10 million) youths. To achieve this, employment opportunities will also be created in the private sector, particularly in industrial areas. For this purpose, a high-level committee is being constituted," Kumar said in a post in Hindi on X. The Janata Dal (United) leader said it was his vision from the beginning to ensure that more and more youth in the state get government jobs and employment opportunities, adding that between 2005 and 2020, his government provided government jobs to over 800,000 youths of Bihar. "To further accelerate the pace of providing government jobs and employment to youths, in 2020, under the good governance programme 'Saat Nischay-2', we resolved to give government jobs to 10 lakh youths and employment to 10 lakh people. Later, this target was increased to provide government jobs to 12 lakh youths and employment to 38 lakh people by August 2025," he added. "I am delighted to share that, so far, 10 lakh (1 million) youths in the state have been provided government jobs, and approximately 39 lakh (3.9 million) people have been given employment, and the target of providing government jobs/employment to over 50 lakh (5 million) youth will certainly be achieved," the state's longest-serving chief minister added. Kumar said that under the 'Saat Nischay' programme, youths of the state were being provided skill development training for self-employment opportunities. "In the next five years, the ongoing programme under 'Saat Nischay' will be expanded. a university will be established for skill development, which will be named Jananayak Karpuri Thakur Skill University in honour of Bihar's pride, Bharat Ratna Jananayak Karpoori Thakur ji," Kumar said. Bihar will go to assembly polls in October-November this year. Kumar's announcement to provide jobs is seen as the ruling NDA's bid to mitigate migration from the state, which has become a focal issue in the upcoming polls, where the NDA and the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc, are engaged in a close fight. Recently, leader of opposition in the assembly Tejashwi Yadav also announced a slew of promises, especially targeted at women and youth. Reacting to the development, the Opposition alleged that the Nitish Kumar government was never serious about jobs and employment, and the CM resorting to rhetoric to announce next five years agenda barely months before the elections. "He (Nitish Kumar) is himself uncertain about his continuance in the chair, but he is planning for that. He should speak about the past 20 years only, not the next five years. Who is he trying to mislead?" RJD spokesperson Ezaz Ahmad said. Congress spokesperson Asitnath Tiwari said the NDA government under Kumar could barely provide 400,000 jobs in the last 20 years and over 500,000 posts still remained vacant. "This was never his priority, but the electoral compulsions are now making him speak what he never intends. People understand this," Tiwari added. Experts maintain that the major announcements of the Kumar-led NDA government could have wider ramifications in the days to come. "Nitish Kumar has a proven track record and that is what has kept him relevant till date despite speculations about his health and questions about his diminishing clout. What he has delivered in terms of basic development of the state in terms of road, electricity and infrastructure is there for everyone to see. So, if he speaks, it carries weight and that will always pose serious challenge for the Opposition, which has a legacy it cannot bank on," social analyst Prof NK Choudhary said. Meanwhile, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday raised serious concerns about voter verification and possible deletion of names from the electoral rolls. Addressing a press conference here today, Tejashwi claimed that if even one per cent of voters are left out during the verification process, nearly 7.9 lakh voters across the State could lose their right to vote. "This means around 3,251 voters could be removed in each assembly seat," he said. He pointed out that during the last election, RJD lost 52 seats by margins of just around 5,000 votes. "If 3,200 votes are cut in each assembly, it can make a big difference," he said. Tejashwi alleged that many of these voters are people who have migrated outside Bihar for work....