Teachers’ jobs row: Bihar education department seeks list of agitators for action

The Bihar education department on Wednesday sought details of the teachers who participated in the protests and demonstrations, which began Tuesday and continued till Wednesday, for action, officials familiar with the development said.

“Additional chief secretary (education) KK Pathak has on Wednesday decided to review through video conferencing snout the teachers who participated in protests on July 11. Kindly provide details in the prescribed format by 2pm. Treat it as very important,” said the letter from the Saharsa district education officer (DEO) to all the block education officers (BEOs).

A similar letter has also been issued by other DEOs. Darbhanga DEO has written to the BEOs that photographs and video clips of teachers participating in protests have been made available and shared through WhatsApp “...As the ACS will review through video conferencing, you all are requested to submit the action report taken against teachers who participated in protests today itself by 3pm. They will be held accountable if the reports are not submitted timely,” said the letter.

Also Read: Bihar: Govt to hold talks with agitating teachers

Meanwhile, Bihar Shikshak Manch took to social media sites to share the details of the letter, tagging deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav. They asked, whether a peaceful demonstration was a crime in Bihar and whether the announcement of ‘CM’s review’ was just a ploy to deflect attention from the demonstration. “Two teachers from Patna were also put under suspension on Tuesday for participating in the agitation. Is it a dictatorship?” they asked.

“With the teachers showing their strength and unity, the government announced that the CM would review the new rules after the monsoon session, but the arrests carried out by the police and the action of Pathak raise doubts about the intentions of the government. In a democratic country, how can protests and demonstrations be questioned? We have just one demand of government employee status to all teachers working for 10-20 years and our agitation will continue,” said Bihar secondary teachers’ association president Shatrughan Prasad Singh.

On Tuesday, thousands of teaching job aspirants across Bihar took to the streets and staged a protest against the new recruitment policy of the Bihar government while leaders of various teachers’ associations called for gherao of the state legislature in pursuance of their demand seeking state employees’ status to teachers on fixed pay. The protests took place amid the ongoing monsoon session of the Bihar Assembly.

Thousands of teachers, appointed by the panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) and urban local bodies (ULBs) and others on contract, had assembled at Gardanibagh ground in Patna and held a peaceful demonstration in support of their demands.

Director (primary education) Pankaj Kumar had last week written to the Patna district magistrate for needful action with a copy of the prior information about the demonstration by the teachers’ body and also threatened action against the teachers for violation of the 2020 service code.

“If the teachers demonstrate a violation of the code of conduct and it comes to light, immediate action needs to be taken. If the teachers resort to demonstration before education department offices, its video recording should be done for identification of code violation,” read the letter from the director, to all the regional deputy directors (RDDs) DEOs, issued Friday evening.

The primary teachers’ association has given information about their ‘ghera dalo, dera dalo’ before the residence of all legislators for two days on June 11-12 in support of their demand for their inclusion in the Bihar state school teachers (appointment, transfer, disciplinary action, and service condition) rules, 2023 and other demands.

Earlier this month also, a demonstration by teacher aspirants in Patna against the removal of domicile policy had turned violent, following which chief secretary Amir Subhani had to clarify that the clause was removed as it was “legally not tenable”.

Also Read: Bihar: Assembly adjourned for day as BJP keeps up stir

The aspirants are demanding the implementation of a domicile policy in the recruitment process, which was recently removed. Last month, the Nitish Kumar cabinet removed the domicile status as one of the eligibility criteria by amending the new teacher recruitment rules it had brought earlier this year making teaching jobs in Bihar government schools open to aspirants across India.

Earlier, there was a provision to recruit only Bihar residents as teachers in state government-run schools under the new service conditions — Bihar state school teachers (appointment, transfer, disciplinary action, and service condition) rules, 2023.

“With the teachers showing their strength and unity, the government announced that the CM would review the new rules after the monsoon session, but the arrests carried out by the police and the action of Pathak clearly raise about the intentions of the government. In a democratic country, how can protests and demonstrations be questioned? We have just one demand of government employee status to all teachers working for 10-20 years and our agitation will continue,” said Bihar secondary teachers’ association president Shatrughan Prasad Singh.