Over 3.5 lakh teachers appointed through Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in Bihar are set to stage a widespread protest, expressing their discontent with the Bihar state school teachers (appointment, transfer, disciplinary action, and service condition) rules, 2023.
On May 2, the Bihar cabinet approved a proposal to recruit 1.78 lakh teachers for primary, middle, and upper schools through the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC). However, the rule is also applicable to close to 4 lakh teachers who were already recruited under the Panchayati Raj system which was introduced in 2006.
Issue explained
Teachers recruited under the Panchayati Raj system have persistently advocated for their removal from the system and integration as regular government teachers, with equitable compensation and benefits. This demand has been a longstanding one among them.
“Now the state government has taken that demand into consideration but the recruitment will be done through an exam by the BPSC. Why are the teachers, who have been in service for more than 15-20 years, being forced to go through a fresh recruitment process?” said Pravin, Treasurer of Bihar Secondary Teachers Association and Biology teacher at the senior secondary level.
The demonstrators emphasised that their recruitment was conducted via a government-endorsed selection process, fulfilling all the eligibility criteria and minimum qualifications set by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) and the state government.
Another issue that the teachers highlighted was that the number of vacancies released by the state government is just 1.78 lakh while there are more than 3.5 lakh teachers working under PRIs.
“There is no vacancy for a Physical Education teacher from classes IX to XII. There is no vacancy for librarians, music teachers, art and craft teacher, etc. Vacancies that are available are also much fewer than the existing teachers waiting to be regularised. Even if they take no fresh recruitments, there will be more than 2 lakh teachers left out of the recruitments,” Pravin explained.
The teachers added the new recruitment rules are against Article 14 of the constitution treats all people the same in the eyes of the law when teachers at the same level are being paid differently under different recruitment systems.
Lastly, the teachers also complained that the salaries fixed under the new pay scale finalised under the Bihar state school teachers’ rules are less than their current salaries as Panchayati Raj teachers.
Protest, future plans
The teachers informed they will hold a state-wide protest across Bihar on Saturday, May 20.
“There is resentment among the teachers against the new rules. The state government has banned us from protesting or holding a strike which is our fundamental write. This is an undemocratic move and there is outrage because of this,” said Shatrughan P Singh, General Secretary, BSTA.
Along with that, the teachers informed that they will hold a ‘Satyagraha’ from May 22 to June 3 at the district headquarters and will try to raise the issue for the upcoming monsoon session of the state assembly.
