PATNA, July 2 -- The Bihar cabinet on Tuesday approved the Mukhya Mantri Pratigya Yojna (CM PRATIGYA - Promotion of Readiness, Awareness, and Technical Insights for Guiding Youth Advancement), a youth-focused internship scheme, offering monthly stipends of Rs.4,000-Rs.6,000 to students, who have successfully cleared the examinations of Class 12, ITI or Diploma, graduation and post graduation. This scheme was among the 24 proposals, which the cabinet, presided over by chief minister Nitish Kumar, approved after formal discussions with the ministers of the concerned departments. Briefing mediapersons after the meeting, additional chief secretary, cabinet, S Siddharth, said that internship amount would be offered to the qualified students under the skill development programme for a period of three months to one year. "Under the CM Pratigya scheme, Class 12 pass students will be offered a monthly stipend of Rs.4,000, while those who cleared the industrial training institute (ITI) exam or get a diploma will be entitled for a monthly internship amount of Rs.5,000. Graduates and post-graduates will be getting internship stipends of Rs.6,000 per month," said Siddharth, adding that the stipend would be given away to qualified students through the direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme. Siddharth said that a taskforce, headed by the development commissioner and comprising representatives of industry bodies such as Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), has been set up to execute the scheme. Launched ahead of assembly elections due in October-November, the scheme aims to counter the Congress party's internship promise to tackle youth unemployment and bolstering the ruling National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) electoral prospects. The Congress party had unveiled five promises during Rajasthan state elections, assuring Rs.1 lakh to qualified students for a period of one year as internship stipend. The CM Pratigya scheme has been approved alongside other welfare measures, such as the Mukhya Mantri Kalakar Pension Yojana (Rs.3,000 monthly pension for financially weak artists) and Guru Shishya Parampara Yojana (to preserve disappearing forms of drama, music, art, etc.), indicating a multi-pronged voter outreach strategy, said a political science professor of BN College, adding that a detailed guideline of the scheme would decide how many students actually qualify for the stipend benefits. Besides, Siddarth said, a sum of Rs.1 crore has been allocated under the CM Kalakar Pension Yojna, while Rs.1.11 crore would be spent on Guru Shishya Parampara scheme. Artistes/artists of repute in the field with more than 50 years of age and annual income of less than 1.20 lakh are entitled to the pension....