Behind Bihar ending domicile rule for teaching jobs: Nitish bid to boost quality education, national image

Before December 2020 the state government did not have a policy of Bihar domicile-based reservation for recruitment of teachers in government schools.

However, the Nitish government did a re-think in its policy in December 2020 after a series of protests and strike by teacher applicants in the state. Making the Bihar domicile mandatory for such applicants was also in line with Nitish’s 2020 poll promise of creating 19 lakh jobs. Nitish was then with the NDA, and this pledge was in response to the then Opposition RJD’s poll promise that it would generate 10 lakh jobs if it came to power.

One of the major reasons why the Nitish-led Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) government – which now has the RJD as a key ally – reversed its 2020 policy is that the Bihar Public Services Commission (BPSC), which would conduct the teachers’ recruitment examination, has for the first time introduced negative marking in it. This could have further limited the choice for the state government. Bihar education minister said: “Posts of teachers in mathematics and science subjects would often remain vacant. Now that we have made vacancies open for all, there would be healthy competition and the state would get quality teachers.”

Additional chief secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, S Siddharth said: “Any Indian citizen can apply now. There is now no need to produce domicile certificates by applicants.”

Another reason the Bihar government has gone back to its pan-Indian policy for teachers’ recruitment could be Nitish’s growing national aspirations. This is an open secret that Nitish has been positioning himself as a prominent Opposition face on the national stage in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He played a key role in organising the first joint meeting of the Opposition parties in Patna on June 23, which deliberated on working out a common roadmap for taking on the ruling Narendra Modi-led BJP in the 2024 polls.

The Bihar Teachers Eligibility Test (BTET) Teachers Association’s president Amit Vikram, however, said: “The state government could have spared 10 per cent seats for applicants from outside the state and could have allowed them if it was unable to get teachers from the state. Most states follow it and have certain riders for non-domicile applicants.”

The principal Opposition BJP was part of the NDA’s 2020 poll promise to create 19 lakh jobs, when the saffron party and the JD (U) were allies. The BJP criticised the Nitish Cabinet’s Tuesday move, with party national spokesperson Guru Prakash Paswan telling The Indian Express: “First, Bihar education minister Chandrashekhar saying that they are not able to get quality teachers or mathematics or science teachers from the state is doubting and discouraging the talents of the state. Our students are good at cracking toughest examinations after all. Second, what would happen to Nitish Kumar’s 2020 poll promise to create 19 lakh jobs for Bihar people. It is another flip-flop by the state government.”

In May this year, the Nitish government approved the proposal to recruit 1.78 lakh teachers including 80,000 primary teachers. These teachers, unlike “Niyojit” (contract) teachers, will have a status equivalent to state teachers as per the provisions of the Bihar state school teachers (appointment, transfer, disciplinary action and service condition) (Amendment) Rules, 2023.