Bihar govt cancels leaves of teachers amid BJP protest over recruitment policy

The Bihar government cancelled the leaves of all teachers for a week, according to an official document. The education department also asked the district magistrates to inspect all state-run schools on Thursday, July 13, to check the attendance of teachers.

"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," said the letter by KK Pathak, the additional chief secretary (ACS-Education), on Wednesday, July 12.

The department also asked 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," said the letter, which was also 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 job aspirants protested in Patna against the government's 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.

Some teachers also participated in the protest. The Education Department has asked the district education officers to identify those teachers.