Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for various projects worth Rs 7,160 crore.

The projects for which the CM virtually laid the foundation stones include 2,615 panchayat government buildings in different blocks in the state and a panchayat resource centre in Sonepur in Saran district.

Kumar also inaugurated 13 district panchayat resource centres, 65 panchayat government buildings, e-gram kachhari court management system and portals of several district councils at a function held at the official residence of the CM.

According to a statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office, the government has been emphasising on the construction of panchayat government buildings.

"There should be the same system in the panchayati raj institutions as that of the state government…therefore, we call these buildings 'panchayat government buildings' instead of Panchayat Bhawan. The CM instructed officials to get the construction work of all these buildings completed by June 2025," the statement said.

The government has set a target of constructing such buildings in every gram panchayat.

Initially, 330 panchayat government buildings were built.

"Of 8,053 panchayat buildings in the state, 6,858 have been approved. Out of these, 1,548 are complete and the rest are under construction", the statement said.

The CM was quoted as saying that now land is being searched for the construction of 1,195 buildings.

District officials concerned have been directed to identify suitable land in their respective villages/panchayats and start the construction immediately, it said.

"Officials have also been instructed to install solar panels on the roof of such buildings…this will save electricity expenses," the statement said.

"All new panchayat government buildings should be maintained in a better manner. The foundation stone for the resource centre in Sonepur was also laid," it said.

Besides, the CM said there are 1,09,321 wards in the state and there is a target to install 11,75,740 street lights in these areas.

"The work of installing 8,00,740 street lights is being done in different areas of the state…which should be completed by March 2025," Kumar said in the statement.

The event was also attended by Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Chaudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, state Panchayati Raj Minister Kedar Prasad Gupta, Building Construction Minister Jayant Raj and Additional Chief Secretary of Panchayati Raj Department Mihir Kumar Singh.