PATNA, Feb. 17 -- Chief minister Nitish Kumar on Monday disbursed Rs.10,000 each to 2.5 million women beneficiaries under the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana (MMRY) via direct benefit transfer (DBT). The aid aims to promote women's empowerment through self-employment and livelihood opportunities. The latest tranche will cost the state exchequer Rs. 2,500 crore. With the latest disbursement, the state government has provided the Rs.10,000 seed money assistance to 18.1 million women beneficiaries each so far. They all have to be monitored and after evaluation of their initiative business models, they will be eligible for the next level of assistance that will see monetary push up to Rs.2 lakh to their establishments. Overall, the Bihar government has so far transferred Rs.18,100 crore to women beneficiaries through direct benefit transfer (DBT) under the scheme, which was launched in September last year just ahead of the state assembly polls. In total, the first instalment of Rs.10,000 had been given to 15.6 million women from 26 September to 28 November 2025 in five phases. In rural areas, 14.4 crore women were covered in the period while 1.2 million women beneficiaries were from the urban areas. The CM released the monetary grant in a function at his official residence, 1 Anne Marg, officials in the CMO said. In his address, the CM at the event said that he was hopeful that this fund would come in handy to women to start their own businesses and enhance their incomes. " Those beneficiaries who manage to run their businesses properly would be entitled to get further monetary assistance up to Rs.2 lakh under the scheme," CM Kumar said. The chief minister also recalled how the state government had promoted the self help groups through Jeevika programme (Bihar rural livelihood promotion society) from 2006 as part of the women empowerment commitment. The chief minister reiterated that his government has been working relentlessly for all sections of the society and also outlined how the central government was giving assistance to the state for faster development of Bihar,. Several women beneficiaries, such as Chandu Bharti from Muzaffarpur and Shabina Khatoon from Nalanda district, who joined the event through video-conferencing, shared their experiences as how the monetary assistance of Rs.10,000 has helped them to start a small business of their own and their incomes have started helping in meeting various financial obligations of the family, including education of their children. Officials of the rural development department, the nodal department implementing the MMRY, said that the second instalment to eligible women beneficiaries would start rolling out once the digital mapping of business launched by women beneficiaries from the initial Rs.10,000 is completed by mid-March across the state. The government has a target to give further monetary assistance up to Rs.2 lakh to around 4 million plus women beneficiaries from April onwards, sources said. Monday's event at the CM's residence was attended by both the deputy chief ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, water resources minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary , rural development department minister Shravan Kumar , chief secretary Prataya Amrit and other senior officers from the RDD....