Bihar: Teachers’ Training Programmes Suspended To Engage Teachers In Caste Survey

The Bihar state government has suspended all teachers’ training programmes in the state to engage teachers in caste surveys.

Bihar Govt Suspends Teachers' Training Programmes To Engage Teachers In Caste Surveys (Representational Image)

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The Bihar state government on Wednesday, August 2, has suspended all teachers’ training programmes in the state. The state government’s move comes following the nod from Patna High Court to conduct Caste-Census in the state, with the court stating the census as ‘valid’ and ‘legal '.” The state government has suspended all teachers' training programmes in the state to rope in teachers for caste census surveys across the state, eyeing early completion of the exercise. Pertaining to the matter, State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) Director Sajjan R has sent a letter to to the Bihar Institute of Public Administration and Rural Development (BIPARD-Gaya and Patna), heads of all teacher education colleges, district institutes for education and training, primary teacher education colleges and such block institutes, as reported by news agency PTI. 

In his letter, the SCERT Director has asked the competent authorities to suspend all teachers’ training programmes in the state with immediate effect. ““Following the direction of the state government, all ongoing training programmes for teachers across the state are suspended with immediate effect. The decision has been taken to ensure that services of teachers (including new recruits) can be utilised for early completion of the caste survey in the state," the SCERT director said,” the SCERT Director was quoted as saying by PTI. In his letter, he also urged teachers undergoing training to contribute their services in the caste survey, besides doing regular teaching work at their respective schools. 

Notably, earlier this year, Bihar government’s caste survey was temporarily suspended by the Patna High Court. However, with the state government maintaining the  caste-based data as a constitutional mandate, the High Court held the caste survey as "valid" and "legal" on Tuesday, August 1, 2023. The court also dismissed petitions against the survey brought in by the state government back in June 2022. Notably, the first phase of the survey was completed on January 21, which witnessed over 15,000 officials conducting door-to-door surveys. The state government has set a targetted expenditure of Rs 500 crore from its contingency fund for the exercise. The general administration department is the nodal authority for the survey.

(With inputs from PTI)