With reference to the initiatives recently launched by the Government of Bihar to promote youth skill development, employment generation, and industrial investment in the state, consider the following statements:
- 1. Under the 'Bihar Industrial Investment Promotion (Textile and Leather Policy)-2022', the Industries Department of the Government of Bihar has made special provisions to provide capital subsidy on plant and machinery along with employment generation subsidy to attract investors.
- 2. To promote technical education and high-skill training in the state, a 'Mega Skill Center' has been established in Patna, and under the 'Bihar Student Credit Card Scheme', the interest rate on loan amounts provided to students pursuing higher education has been completely reduced to 0% (zero percent) for women.
- 3. To promote khadi and handicrafts, the Government of Bihar has announced the development of 'Mega Handloom Clusters' in Muzaffarpur and Bhagalpur to provide national and international markets to traditional weavers of the state.
- 4. According to the state economic survey, in recent years the growth rate of Bihar's primary sector (Agriculture and Allied sectors) has declined sharply, due to which the services sector has now become the largest contributor to the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of the state economy.
Which of the above statement(s) is/are completely true?
Detailed Explanation
Statement 1 is true because under the 'Bihar Industrial Investment Promotion (Textile and Leather Policy), 2022', the state government provides capital subsidy, electricity subsidy, as well as a special monthly grant for employment generation to workers to promote the textile and leather industries. Statement 2 is true because under the Bihar Student Credit Card Scheme, highly concessional interest rates (1% for women) or zero interest facilities are provided on loans for higher education to female students, disabled individuals, and other eligible students, and the Mega Skill Center in Patna is training youth. Statement 3 is false because the main announcements related to the Mega Handloom Cluster are focused on other specific districts for weavers, and generally handloom and silk parks are associated with the Bhagalpur/Banka regions, whereas the official policy highlights Muzaffarpur for leather and food processing. Statement 4 is false because the contribution of agriculture and allied sectors is still the backbone of Bihar's rural economy, and although the service sector holds a large share in GSDP, there is no such official provision of a massive decline in the growth rate of the agriculture sector that proves this statement completely correct.