1. Agrarian Change and Rural Transformation
Sustainable and climate-smart agri-food systems; agricultural productivity and farm incomes; rural economic diversification; farmer collectivisation through FPOs and cooperatives; market linkages and value chains; technology, mechanisation and farm labour; livestock and fisheries.

2. MSMEs and Entrepreneurship
Own-account and household enterprises; artisan and weaver clusters; street vending and informal enterprises; registered MSMEs and industrial policy; industrial incentives and enterprise development; access to credit and finance; entrepreneurship development, training and support systems.

3. Employment, Migration and Labour Markets
Job creation and future of work; unemployment and underemployment; wages and earnings; gig and platform work; Bihar’s demographic window and youth transitions to work; migration for employment and education; remittances; migrants’ rights and social security.

4. Education and Skills
School education and learning outcomes; higher and technical education; access, quality and equity in education; educational migration; education governance and institutional capacity; public resources and financing; skills, training and employability.

5. Gender, Work and Women’s Economic Empowerment
Female labour force participation; unpaid and care work; Jeevika and Self-Help Groups; financial inclusion; women’s asset ownership; safety and mobility; gendered impacts of male out-migration; access to higher education and skills; education-to-work transitions.

6. Health, Nutrition and Well-being
Public health infrastructure and primary healthcare; maternal and child health; child nutrition; ICDS, mid-day meals and other nutrition programmes; reproductive health; food security; the role of private and informal healthcare providers; Ayushman Bharat coverage and utilisation; inequalities in health outcomes; adolescent health; disease burden and epidemiological transition; water, sanitation and their links to nutrition and health.

7. Social Protection
Poverty and inequality; vulnerability and social exclusion; EBCs, SCs, STs and other marginalised communities; older persons and persons with disabilities; social protection systems and welfare programmes; improving access, coverage and effectiveness of social protection.

8. Urbanisation, Small Towns and Urban Governance
Rural–urban linkages and urban transition; small and medium-sized towns; municipal finance and institutional capacity; housing, sanitation and basic services; informal settlements and urban livelihoods; flood and drainage infrastructure and management;strengthening urban local bodies and governance.

9. Infrastructure, Connectivity and Logistics
Roads, railways and inland waterways; electricity access, affordability and reliability; digital connectivity; warehousing and logistics; cold-chain infrastructure; connectivity as a driver of economic transformation.

10. Climate, Environment, Energy and Disaster Resilience
Flooding and drought; groundwater and arsenic contamination; climate-smart agriculture and adaptation; flood and water management; disaster preparedness and resilience; renewable energy and energy access; improving air and water quality; waste management and environmental sustainability.

11. Investment, Resources and Public Finance
State fiscal capacity; quality and effectiveness of public expenditure; Centre–State transfers; investment and mobilisation of resources; banking and non-banking sources of finance; private investment and FDI; engaging the Bihari diaspora in attracting investment.

12. Governance, Institutions and Service Delivery
Administrative and institutional capacity; law and order; Panchayati Raj and decentralisation; transparency and accountability; grievance redressal; implementation gaps; efficiency and quality of public service delivery.

13. Technology, Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence
Digital public infrastructure; digital divides based on gender and location; technology, employment and future of work; digital technologies for improving governance and service delivery.

14. Culture, Heritage, Tourism and the Creative Economy
Pilgrimage and Buddhist tourism circuits; heritage conservation and local livelihoods; crafts, artisans and market access; cultural enterprises; creative industries; tourism infrastructure and connectivity; sustainable tourism; strengthening ecosystem for tourism-led development.

15. Bihar: Identity, Culture and Belonging
Regional identity and belonging; non-resident Biharis and the wider Bihari diaspora; second-generation Bihari identity; regional languages and cultural traditions; folklore, arts and crafts; cultural preservation and promotion; engaging the overseas and wider Bihari diaspora; building stronger connections between the diaspora and Bihar’s development.

Additional Themes
The above themes are intended to provide a broad framework for discussion. Prospective paper writers are welcome to contribute papers on other themes relevant to Bihar’s development that are not explicitly covered above.