PATNA, Aug. 27 -- Bihar chief minister Samrat Choudhary on Wednesday launched three new schemes for women empowerment, self-reliance and safety, asserting that the growing positive role of women in the state's transformation was apparent from the panchayat level to the administration. Launching the "Police Didi" scheme, Choudhary said that around 40,000 women are presently serving in the Bihar police force and will now be provided scooties and deployed across schools, colleges and other educational institutions to safeguard girls and women. On Raksha Bandhan, 4,700 scooties and motorcycles will be flagged off under 'Abhay Brigade' initiative to provide safety to girls. "The emergency response time for the 'Dial 112' helpline has dropped to under 10 minutes, with a target to reduce it further to between five to seven minutes," he added. The CM also announced the launch of the 'Bihar Ki Beti Startup Challenge Scheme,' under which women would get financial assistance of Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh for entrepreneurship. In another major initiative, Choudhary announced a Rs 10,000/month fellowship for women enrolled in PhD programmes to encourage their research in higher education. According to officials of the higher education department, detailed guidelines will soon be issued. "NET/CSIR qualified candidates currently receive Rs 8,000 from many universities, while Junior Research Fellows (JRFs) get around Rs 35,000-40,000 from the UGC. Bihar has now planned a uniform fellowship for all NET/CSIR qualified candidates who don't get JRF," he added. The Bihar fellowship scheme announced by Choudhary is likely to benefit around 1,000 women pursuing PhD, as state universities currently provide no assistance to them. The move is also seen as an extension to incentives like the Rs 25,000 scholarship for girls passing intermediate and Rs 50,000 for girls clearing graduation. Besides, the government also provides incentives to girls clearing preliminary competitive tests. The CM also announced that Bihar will have one lakh more 'lakhpati Didis' in the next two years to reflect their self-reliance and accelerate Bihar's growth. In a bid to woo 50% of voters ahead of the Assembly election, the state government started disbursing Rs 10,000 as the first installment to one woman in each family under the Mukhiya Mantri Mahila Rozgar Yojana, with an assurance to enhance aid to Rs 2-lakh if their ventures succeed....