BJP's Protest Against Removing Domicile In Bihar's Job Recruitment; Govt Cancels Teachers' Leave For A Week

The Bihar government has cancelled the leaves of all teachers for a week over the protest by aspirants (teaching) against the government's recent decision to remove the domicile policy in the state. The Bihar education department has asked the district magistrates (DMs) to inspect all state-run schools on Thursday to check the attendance of teachers.

An official letter by KK Pathak, Additional chief secretary (ACS-Education), says, "The attendance/presence of teachers in all government schools must be 100 per cent on July 13... Strict departmental action, including suspension, should be taken against those teachers who are found absent during inspection on July 13."

The department has also asked the district education officers to cancel the leaves of all teaching staff for a week. "Only in emergency situations, permission (of leave) can be taken directly from the ACS only," the letter read, which was issued on Wednesday. The reasons behind the directives were not specified by the department in the letters.

However, the opposition BJP claimed that the directions were given to prevent teachers from participating in its state-wide protest against the new recruitment policy. "The BJP is organising a protest march against the new recruitment policy for teachers on Thursday. The march will begin at Gandhi Maidan and conclude at the gate of the state assembly. These directions were issued to prevent the participation of teachers in the protest. This shows the dictatorial mindset of the Nitish Kumar government," alleged state BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand.

On July 11, teaching aspirants protested in the capital city against the decision to remove the domicile policy in hiring 1.7 lakh teachers, which would allow people from other states to take part in the process.