PATNA, Dec. 10 -- The Bihar cabinet on Tuesday approved the creation of three new departments, and changed the names of three others, giving a fresh push to governance restructuring in the state, said officials. The decision was taken at a meeting of the state council of ministers chaired by chief minister Nitish Kumar, where a total of 19 agenda items received the green signal. Briefing reporters after the meeting, additional chief secretary of the cabinet department, Arvind Kumar Chaudhary, said the government has approved the formation of the Youth Employment and Skill Development Department, the Higher Education Department, and the Civil Aviation Department. The three departments are in addition to the existing 45 government departments at present. The CM had on December 5 announced on X the state government's decision to create three new departments in order to achieve his government's target of giving jobs and employment opportunities to one crore youth in the next five years. Taking to social media platform X, Kumar said, "We have set a target to provide jobs and employment to one crore youth in next five years (2025-30). For this, it is necessary that maximum youth of the state be given training for skill development and quality higher and technical education." Youth, Employment & Skill Development has been created for all round development of youth by equipping them with skill development to be eligible for getting employment opportunities while higher education department's job will be to provide quality education in the state and civil aviation has been created to deal with the expanding aviation sector in the state and also to provide and make air travel better in the state, additional chief secretary said. Alongside, the names of three existing departments have been modified to reflect their expanded roles. The Animal and Fisheries Resources Department will now be known as the Dairy, Fisheries and Animal Resources Department, while the Labour Resources Department has been renamed the Labour Resources and Migrant Workers Welfare Department. The Art, Culture and Youth Department will hereafter function as the Art and Culture Department following the separation of youth-related functions. Chaudhary added that steps have also been taken to strengthen the administrative framework. The Directorate of Technical Development under the Industries Department has been renamed the Directorate of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME). The Directorate of Mines and Geology has been reorganised into two distinct entities - the Directorate of Mines and the Directorate of Exploration. Furthermore, the Mines directorate has been bifurcated into the Mining sub-directorate and the Security sub-directorate to expedite action against illegal mining, transportation and storage, and to create new posts for safeguarding mineral leases. The cabinet also approved a five per cent increase in dearness allowance (DA) for its employees, pensioners and family pensioners who are getting salary/pension as per the 6th Pay Commission's recommendations, he said adding that the DA has been hiked from 252 to 257 per cent which will be payable with effect from July 1, 2025. Similarly, it also hiked eight per cent DA for its employees, pensioners and family pensioners who are getting salary/pension as per the 5th Pay Commission's recommendations, he said adding that the DA has been hiked from 466 to 474 per cent which will be payable with effect from July 1, 2025. The cabinet also approved the establishment of Gayaji and Munger as civil defence districts, raising the total number in Bihar to 30. Fourteen new posts have been sanctioned to operationalise the two additions. Chaudhary said both districts hold immense cultural, industrial and strategic importance. Gayaji, the site of Lord Buddha's enlightenment and host to major events like the Pitra Paksha Mela and Buddhist festival, witnesses a steady influx of domestic and international visitors. Munger, home to key industrial hubs, including the Jamalpur locomotive works and the historic British gun factory, is considered sensitive from the standpoint of national security. Both regions, he said, are also prone to natural disasters, making their inclusion in the civil defence grid essential. The cabinet also sanctioned Rs.400 crore for payment of electricity dues of urban local bodies that it owes to both the power distribution companies (North Bihar Power Distribution Company Ltd & South Bihar Power Distribution Company Ltd) for financial year 2025-26. It also gave its nod to "Bihar Dastavej Lekhak Anugyapti (Sanshodhan) Niyamawali 2025" (Bihar Deed Writers License (Amendment) Rules 2025) making those affected by leprosy eligible for getting licence as deed writers. The cabinet approved the finance department's proposal for signing an MoU with National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSEIL), Mumbai to empower youth of the state and also for running "Student Skilling Programme". It also approved signing of an MoU with National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Ltd (NIIFL) for getting its assistance in different projects of the state, ACS said. The cabinet also approved the corpus fund of Rs.15 crore for "Valmikinagar Tiger Reserve Foundation/Trust, Chaudhary said and added that the foundation will use the amount. It approved the constitution of "Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park Management and Development Society", he said. The cabinet also approved "Bihar Electronic Order (Issuance, Execution and Disposal) Rules 2025" and "Bihar e-Sakshya Prabandhan Niyamawali, 2025" (Bihar e-Evidence Management Rules, 2025). The e-Sakshya rules focus on electronic evidence, video conferencing, digital signatures (e-sign), and managing witness testimony electronically under the new Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS)....