Bihar government appoints former chief secretary as appellate authority chairman

The move is significant as the education department is saddled with the highest number of court cases related to appointments, promotions, transfers, service matters etc.

Former Bihar chief secretary Ashok Kumar Sinha has been made the chairman of the state appellate authority in accordance with the provisions laid down in the Bihar State School Teachers and Employees Disputes Redressal Rules, 2020.

Patna, India – November 26, 2020: Chief Minister Nitish Kumar arrives to attend a joint session of the Bihar Assembly in Patna, Bihar, India on Thursday November 26, 2020. (Photo by Santosh Kumar/ Hindustan Times)

Sinha, who earlier served as the chief information commissioner, will have a tenure of five years from the date of joining or till he acquires the age of 70 years. He will get the same salary and allowances minus the pension amount as applicable to a Patna high court judge. A notification to this effect was issued by the education department.

The government last year, ahead of the assembly elections, announced salary hike for teachers and acceded to the old demand for rules for redressal of grievances of teachers, under which, there is a provision for district and state level appellate authority to deal with the complaints.

The new rules came into effect repealing the 2015 rules. The state appellate authority has the powers to hear appeals against the orders passed by the district appellate authorities. The government has also invited applications for appointment of presiding officers in the two-member district appellate authorities. While one of them will be a retired officer of the Bihar judicial service, another will be a retired officer of the Bihar education service or Bihar administrative service.

The move is significant as the education department is saddled with the highest number of court cases related to appointments, promotions, transfers, service matters, pay anomalies, contribution to employee provident fund (EPF) and court-monitored vigilance case into the alleged appointment of fake teachers.