Manjhi and Bhuiyan are among the thousands of poor, landless and homeless Dalits in Bihar who see the government decision as a beginning of a new life for them.

A government commission set up two years ago for the welfare of certain Dalit groups, which are socially and educationally more backward than others, painted a bleak picture of their lives in its first interim report submitted a few months ago.

Dalits constitute nearly 15 percent of Bihar's 83 million people. The commission identified 18 of the 22 Dalit sub-castes, including Musahar, Bhuiyan, Dom and Nat, as the most backward. They constitute 31 percent of the Dalit population in the state.

On Wednesday, Nitish Kumar discussed with top government officials to finalise the modalities of the implementation of the special scheme launched last year to give 120 sq metres of land to the poorest families in the state. The government has also promised to provide funds to these families so that they can build their houses. "Now the Lok Sabha elections are over, Nitish Kumar at a meeting with the members of the Maha Dalit Vikas Mission directed to speed up the implementation of the scheme," an official in the chief minister's office said. The mission has identified the number of families who would benefit from the schemes, according to the official. Nitish Kumar asked his officials to re-check and complete the survey by June end.