Bihar is India’s poorest state.
This is what happens to the money meant to teach its children. Per-capita income ₹66,828 — the lowest in the country. Follow one year’s money, rupee by rupee.
Compiled 12 August 2026 · CAG SFAR 2023–24 · UDISE+ 2023–24 / 2024–25
1.Where the money stops
Where Bihar’s scheme money stops
The Centre routes Bihar’s scheme money — including every rupee for its schools — through 142 Single Nodal Agencies. This is FY 2023–24 on one scale, so you can watch where it stops.
The Single Nodal Agency black hole: scheme money is booked as “expenditure” the instant it is transferred to a nodal agency and onward to 1,75,494 child agencies. The Accountant General received no vouchers for any of it — so the state can prove it moved the money, not that it bought anything for a child.
2.The children disappear from the system too.
| Indicator | Bihar | India |
|---|---|---|
| Reach secondary school (transition rate) | 31.5% | 83.3% |
| Drop out at secondary | 25.6% | 14.1% |
| Drop out at upper primary | 25.9% | 5.2% |
UDISE+ 2023–24 · Bihar led India with 27.7 lakh elementary dropouts, 2022–24
3.Even the will has nowhere to go. The system is hollow.
4.The money doesn’t move
| Programme | Type | Approved | Spent | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State universities block grant | State | ₹22,576 cr | ₹18,442 cr | 82% |
| Samagra Shiksha | CSS 60:40 | ₹20,013 cr | ₹8,385 cr | 42% |
| PM POSHAN | CSS 60:40 | ₹5,133 cr | ₹2,163 cr | 42% |
| PM-USHA (Bihar) | CSS 60:40 | ₹335 cr | not published | — |
| PMKVY (Bihar) | Central | ₹36.82 cr | ₹5.96 cr | 16% |
| RGSA (Panchayat training) | CSS 60:40 | ₹33.37 cr | not published | — |
5.What the auditors found
- CAG SFAR 2023-24, Para 4.19 (SNA fund-flow, all schemes)₹14,738 cr
Across Bihar's Single Nodal Agencies for all centrally-sponsored schemes, the Accountant General received no vouchers of actual expenditure; ₹14,738.13 cr of the funds released lay unspent in SNA bank accounts on 31 March 2024. To the extent of non-submission of Utilisation Certificates, the amount shown as expenditure may not have reached the beneficiaries.
CAG SFAR 2023-24, Para 4.19 (SNA fund-flow, all schemes)
- State universities block grant₹4,134 cr
Across 11 state universities, ₹4,134.21 cr (18%) of the provision was surrendered unutilised over 2017-22, and 57% of teaching posts lay vacant.
CAG Report No. 5 of 2024 (Performance & Compliance Audit)
- PMKVY (Bihar)₹30.86 cr
Of ₹36.82 cr released to Bihar under PMKVY, only ₹5.96 cr (16%) was utilised by March 2024 — no training centres were set up and no skill-gap study was conducted; 3 of 10 sampled training centres had closed.
CAG Performance Audit Report No. 20 of 2025 (PMKVY)
6.It isn’t that Bihar can’t teach
Where children stay and are taught, learning is not the disaster the money is. In PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024 and the PGI 2.0 learning-outcomes domain, Bihar held its own against far better-resourced states — ahead of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Its failure is delivery: money released but never verifiably spent, and children who never reach the classroom.
7.How we know — sources on this page
- CAG State Finances Audit Report 2023–24 (Report No.1 of 2025), Para 4.19 & Table 3.28
- CAG Report No.5 of 2024 — state universities performance audit
- CAG Report No.20 of 2025 — PMKVY performance audit
- UDISE+ 2024–25 national booklet; UDISE+ 2023–24 dropout & transition
- PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024 (NCERT); PGI 2.0 2023–24 (Ministry of Education)
- MoPR Annual Report 2025–26, Annexure IV (RGSA releases); PM-USHA PAB-3 minutes
- Bihar per-capita income ₹66,828 (lowest in India): CAG SFAR 2023–24
Every figure carries its source; spending is never asserted. Where Bihar publishes nothing, an RTI request is the evidence trail. · cag.gov.in ↗