PATNA, Feb. 4 -- Development of grameen (rural) hats in rural areas for giving rural economy a boost, covering five lakh new families under Lohia Swachh Bihar campaign for providing toilets and also providing further monetary assistance upto Rs.2 lakh to eligible beneficiaries under Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgaar Yojana (MMRY) are among the major targets of the rural development department for the fiscal year 2026-27. This has been outlined in the budget speech of finance minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav after laying the state budget of Rs.3.47,589 crore on Tuesday. The rural development department ( RDD) has got one of the highest allocation among departments in scheme outlay standing at Rs.22,392.47 crore meant for implementation of various development schemes and works, indicating the state government's thrust on strengthening the rural infrastructure and economy in the next fiscal year. The total allocation made to RDD stands at Rs.23,701 crore ( including Rs.1,453 crore in establishment and commitment expenditure), which is 6.82% of the total allocations among all departments. Highlighting the works done by the RDD, the finance minister 's speech also talked about the budgetary provision for generation of 210 million mandays under MGNREGA (now VB -G-RAM-G) in the fiscal year 2025-26, which is highest in the state. In context of self help groups under Jeevika programme, the minister said that 14 million families were being covered under the women empowerment programme while highlighting that in 2025-26, Rs.7,052 crore had been disbursed as loan to 129,000 self help groups. The government also said the sports grounds were being set up in all gram panchayats while also underlining the conservation works being done for ponds and other water bodies , The works being done for setting up solar panels and rainwater harvesting system in government buildings was also highlighted. In total, solar panels in 11.993 government buildings and rain water harvesting system in 14,967 buildings have been done so far, the minister said. In context of MMRY, the minister said that 15.6 million women have been already given the first instalment of Rs. 10,000 to start enterprises and many more women eligible for next instalment would be given financial support up to Rs.2 lakh for expanding their business. The government said that rural haats and local markets in urban areas too would be developed to provide a platform for sale of goods being manufactured by the women covered under MMRY. Besides, several other schemes to provide skill development and livelihood to women in rural areas were also highlighted in the speech. The government said that there is a target to provide toilets to five lakh new families or those not covered under the scheme so far in 2026-27....