Agitating teachers file petitions in HC against new recruitment rules

The TET teachers’ association has already filed a petition in the high court last week for quashing the new rules

PATNA: Despite tough posturing by the government, the teachers’ bodies have decided to move ahead with their agitation plan and filed petitions against the new Bihar state schoolteachers (appointment, transfer, disciplinary action, and service condition) rules, 2023, under which the state government plans to carry out fresh recruitments.

Teachers stage a demonstration in protest against the new recruitment rules in Patna on Saturday. (HT Photo)

The TET teachers’ association has already filed a petition in the high court last week for quashing the new rules. They also want removal of exam rider for status of government employees to around two-lakh working teachers, who have cleared the teachers’ eligibility test, as per the provisions laid down under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, from the date of joining.

“Our stand is clear. We cannot be discriminated against, as we have been appointed through proper procedure laid down by the government,” said association president Amit Bikram after Saturday’s protest.

On Saturday, the teachers recruited since 2006 through Panchayati raj bodies and urban local bodies also took to the streets, as per their schedule, in all the divisional headquarters, including Patna, and accused the state government of trying to mislead the people and forcing litigations to derail the process.

“Our question is simple to chief minister Nitish Kumar and deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav: If the new rules are really in the name of quality education, will they admit that the education imparted by teachers appointed since 2006 by the same government was devoid of quality? There are already two kinds of pay scales for teachers doing the same job and now comes the third. Why is the government trying to create such a divide?” asked the agitating teachers.

The protests happened three days after the Bihar government directed all the regional deputy directors (RDDs) and district education officers (DEOs) to deal sternly with teachers who organise protests and demonstrations against the new rules.

“This is too much. How can the government take away the democratic right of peaceful protests? The government itself creates problems and then tries to blame teachers. The government’s intention is not right, and it wants judicial intervention to stop the process. It happened earlier also when the government declared the teachers appointed before 2006 a dying cadre and came up with a humiliating pay scale, which increased to some extent after judicial intervention and continued protests. Now, it wants to create a third type of teachers after denying the legitimate rights of the working ones. Naturally, teachers will knock on the doors of the judiciary for justice,” said Shatrughan Prasad Singh, former MP and president of the Bihar Secondary Teachers’ Association.

Advocate Dinu Kumar, the counsel for the petitioners in the Patna high court, said there were some legal lacunae in the implementation of the new rules and that has been raised in the petition filed by teachers having qualified the secondary teachers’ eligibility test. Another issue that has created doubts is that despite appointments through BPSC, there is no grade pay defined for teachers, which makes the government’s intention doubtful.

The basic premise is that the rules have not been repealed while the powers of appointment have been taken away from the PRIs and ULBs. “The rules framed by the Government in 2006, 2008, 2012, and 2020, by which the power was vested in Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti, Zila Parishad, and Municipality, have been automatically withdrawn with the new policy without repealing the old rules. Under the new rules, only candidates from Bihar can apply, which is also violative of Article 15 of the Constitution, as it discriminates. And thirdly, teachers appointed since 2006 cannot be governed by a different rule and those appointed now by another rule. There should be uniformity for all,” he added.

The Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) has already announced the syllabus for the recruitment of teachers and the advertisement for the secondary and higher secondary schools was also likely within a few days, but the prospects of legal wrangles, which could complicate the matter and delay the process, has made it tread cautiously. “The government will do what is in the best interest of teachers. These are all our teachers. They don’t need to be misled and focus on their work,” said an education department official, who did not want to be quoted.

The appointment of 1.78-lakh teachers announced by the government will cost the exchequer ₹10623 crore. This includes 33186 in secondary schools and 57618 in higher secondary schools, which the govt plans to complete in the first phase.