CM Nitish Kumar calls on Governor RV Arlekar at Raj Bhavan

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday called on Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar at the Raj Bhawan where the two spent around half an hour and termed this a courtesy visit. Meanwhile, soon after, Rajya Sabha MP and former deputy chief minister of Bihar Sushil Kumar Modi, also arrived at the Raj Bhawan.

Although the reason for the meeting between the CM and governor is not known, people familiar with the matter said the showdown over the implementation of the new education policy (NEP), which has the provision for annual exit from the four-year degree programme, might have cropped up during the talks.

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His visit came a day after Bihar’s government’s decision to allow candidates from other states to compete for teachers’ jobs. The state cabinet on Tuesday removed the domicile status as one of the eligibility criteria by amending the new teacher recruitment rules it had brought earlier this year.

According to the people mentioned above, Kumar also reviewed the ongoing construction work at Rajendra Mandapam where swearing-in functions are held.

However, the timing of the meeting triggered speculations over the matter related to cabinet expansion, which the Congress has been waiting for a long time.

The Congress is mounting pressure on Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Prasad Yadav to expand the state cabinet and accommodate two of its leaders as ministers.

Earlier, Bihar Congress president Akhilesh Prasad Singh had categorically said that the cabinet expansion would take place after June 23 and two of the party legislators would be accommodated as ministers.

Meanwhile, Modi, who also termed it a sheer coincidence that he also landed at the Raj Bhawan the same day as the CM’s visit, said, “It was not planned. I had not met the governor for a long time. We have had an association since the student days and so I called on the governor.”

Modi has also criticised Tuesday’s cabinet nod on allowing candidates from other states to compete for teachers’ jobs in Bihar and said that it was an “insult to Bihar’s talent reserves” while demanding the chief minister to withdraw.

Modi further praised the governor for trying to reform state universities with a slew of measures.

“I wanted to congratulate him and that was the reason why I went there. He is working with a positive intent to ensure that Bihar students don’t get isolated in the rapidly changing sphere of higher education in the country,” Modi told reporters on Wednesday.

The Bihar government has been expressing its reservation with the implementation of a four-year degree programme with exit options under choice based credit system (CBCS), while the universities have gone ahead with it after the Raj Bhawan cleared the ordinance and statute, besides getting the syllabus approved.

An official of the Bihar state higher education council (BSHEC) said that a middle path would soon be worked out to sort out the issue at the council’s meeting in the next month.

“The government is also not against reforms. There is no harm in adopting CBCS with a semester system for a three-year course and later it would be seen if it could be extended to four years, as it would require amendment in the Acts governing state universities,” said the official, wishing not to be named.