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          Patna, May 3 For the first time, Bihar has hired hired   85 young professionals, all fresh post-graduates of India's top ranking   management and social sciences institutes, to help in implementing a livelihood   project for the poorest sections living in rural areas, officials Thursday   said.
 |  Bihar Rural Development Minister Nitish Mishra said young professionals have   been recruited by the Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society (BRLPS), an   independent body set up by the government, to help in implementing the World   Bank-supported Jeevika project in the state.
 The BRLPS has recruited them   at salaries ranging from Rs.25,000 to Rs.60,000 per month.
 
 Besides, they   would be given several other benefits at par with the corporate world, officials   said.
 
 The BRLPS has picked up 19 students of the Institute of Rural   Management Anand (IRMA), 15 from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, 12 from   Xavier Institute of Social Sciences, 10 from KIIT (Kalinga Institute of   Industrial Technology) School of Rural Management, nine from Institute of Forest   Management, and three from Xavier Institute of Management,   Bhubaneswar.
 
 The Rural Livelihoods Project has been designed to address   rural poverty in Bihar through the collaboration of the poor, the Bihar   government and the World Bank, he said.
 
 Mishra said there were 1.26 crore   below poverty line families in the state which formed 55 percent of its total   population. "Ten lakh Self Help Groups would be formed in the state in the next   five years to weed out poverty. As a first measure, five lakh SHGs would be   constituted which would benefit 1.25 crore poor families," he said.
 
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