Teachers intensify agitation, BJP promises support

State BJP president Samrat Choudhary said the government had ruined education sector due to its whimsical actions.

The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bihar on Monday announced to take out a march to Raj Bhawan in support of nearly four lakh working teachers who want the status as state government employees.

Bihar BJP president Samrat Choudhary along with leader of opposition Vijay Sinha meets teachers protesting against the new recruitment rules in Patna on Monday. (Santosh Kumar/HT Photo)

“We will take out the march in July to apprise the Governor of the incongruities in the Bihar state school teachers (appointment, transfer, disciplinary action, and service condition) rules, 2023, under which the government wants to carry out new appointments,” said BJP state president Samrat Choudhary.

Several teachers’ bodies have called on Choudhary and leader of Opposition Vijay Kumar Sinha for support.

“The government should not try to humiliate its own teachers by creating unnecessary divide and insecurity through new cadres and new scales. The government is playing games with teachers and it is unfortunate,” he said.

Under the new rules, teachers will be recruited through an examination to be conducted by the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) and will be given the status of state government employees and paid accordingly. Teachers already working and keen on getting the same status will also have to take the exam, a rider they want removed.

Choudhary said the government had ruined education sector due to its whimsical actions. “When all the teachers have already cleared 2-3 exams conducted by the state government and have been discharging their duty for up to 15-16 years, forcing them to take yet another exam is beyond comprehension,” he said.

Teachers’ leader and MLC Nawal Kishore Yadav said BJP would take up the cause of teachers both inside and outside the legislature, as the new rules were clearly an attempt to delay the process, force agitation by teachers and encourage litigations in the court. “The intent of the government is wrong,” he said.

Though the BPSC has already issued the advertisement for the appointment of around 1.70 lakh school teachers and announced that the recruitment process will be completed by December this year, nearly four lakh teachers appointed since 2006 through Panchayati raj bodies and urban local bodies want that they be given the status of the state government employees without any exam rider.

Nearly a dozen petitions have so far been filed in the Patna High Court against the new rules and the matter may come up for hearing later this month after the summer vacation.

Former MP and president of the Bihar State Secondary Teachers’ Association, Shatrughan Prasad Singh, said teachers launched a satyagrah campaign on June 10 from Bhitiharwa in West Champaran, where Mahatma Gandhi started his Champaran Satyagrah from, against the government’s attitude towards teachers.

“We will get 10 lakh signatures and send it to the government. As far as working teachers are concerned, no one will fill the form or take the exam. The government should give them the status of government employees, else we will intensify our non-political agitation. If political parties extend support, they are welcome,” he said.