The Bihar State School Teachers (appointment, transfer, disciplinary action and service condition) Rules, 2023 has been amended by the Bihar cabinet. While only permanent residents of Bihar were allowed to apply in the past, now, post amendment, all citizens of India can apply. All future appointments to school teacher posts will be carried out by the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC).
The BPSC has already started accepting applications online starting 15 June, to fill the 1.75 lakh vacancies across secondary and higher secondary schools in Bihar. Only the teachers who pass this BPSC exam will enjoy the status of government employees.
However, four lakh teachers are protesting the process, demanding that they be treated as government employees on the basis of their past service, without having to clear the exam. Most of these protesting teachers have been appointed via urban local bodies or panchayati raj institutions since 2006.
Meanwhile, in a bid to check absenteeism in universities, the Department of Education in Bihar has held back the salaries of more than 1,000 teachers and non-teaching staff for failing to report for duty. Amongst those impacted are 630 teachers and non-teaching staff from B R Ambedkar Bihar University, Muzaffarpur, 190 from B N Mandal University, Madhepura, and 93 from Veer Kunwar Singh University, Ara.
