Bihar Cabinet nod to separate temple land from Buxar jail premises

2 min readPatnaJul 2, 2026 04:03 AM IST

Caption: CM Samrat Chaudhary at an event in Patna, Wednesday. (ANI)

AMONG THE 29 decisions taken by the Bihar Cabinet on Wednesday, a proposal was approved to carve out the Lord Vaman Temple from the premises of the high-security Buxar Central Jail. The move aims to separate the shrine for structural development, beautification and public access while keeping prison security unaffected.

Under the decision, the state government has sanctioned the segregation of 1 acre and 90 decimals of land, measuring 600 feet by 138 feet, from the prison complex on which the temple stands. To insulate the active prison wings and maintain security, the Cabinet approved the construction of a 14-ft-high boundary wall with barbed wire on three sides of the newly designated temple complex.

The land will be carved out of the 19th-century prison, which has a sanctioned capacity of around 1,600 inmates and currently houses over 1,000 prisoners across its 60-acre campus.

Earlier this year, then Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary visited Buxar during the Samriddhi Yatra with then CM Nitish Kumar. Addressing the public, he had announced that the temple would soon be opened to devotees with necessary arrangements by the state government.

Among other decisions, the Bihar government has decided to levy “user fees” on state highways, a move aimed at ensuring the development and maintenance of roads, officials said on Wednesday.

“The decision aims to ensure the development, upgradation and maintenance of roads across the state,” a senior official said.

The cabinet cleared the Road User Fee (Determination and Collection of Rates) Rules, 2026, paving the way for levying the charges. “The rules prescribe clear user fee rates for different vehicle categories and provide for an annual revision. Additionally, provisions have been made for exemptions for specified user categories, as well as concessional passes and frequent-user discounts for eligible users,” the proposal stated.

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The cabinet also approved the allotment of government land for establishing five new Kendriya Vidyalayas in the state. A proposal to allot five acres of government land for each of the five new schools was cleared.

With PTI inputs

Himanshu Harsh is a Correspondent with The Indian Express, currently leading on-the-ground coverage in Bihar. With a reporting career rooted in the complexities of the National Capital Region (NCR), Himanshu specializes in the critical intersection of law, crime, and civic governance.

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