EXPLAINED | Why The Issue Of 'Contractual Teachers' In Bihar Is A Major Election Issue?

With the upcoming state assembly elections, major political parties are trying to woo the fraternity of teachers as the majority holds a number of 3.5 lakh plus voters. The number itself converts into a half a percent of votes ,enough to make a winning margin for a party on the road to make up a government in the state.

(File Photo/ AFP)

The 3.5 lakh ‘nijyojit shikshak’ (Contractual Teacher) of Bihar have been on strike since February this year, demanding salary same as the permanent teachers, increase in retirement age to 65, and status of state government employee etc. While permanent teachers of the state receive a hefty sum of salary between Rs 75,000 to 1 lakh, contractual teachers just get between Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 every month. The strike affected teaching and mid-day meals at over 40,000 schools across the state before the pandemic. With the upcoming state assembly elections, major political parties are trying to woo the fraternity of teachers as the majority holds a number of 3.5 lakh plus voters. The number itself converts into a half a percent of votes ,enough to make a winning margin for a party on the road to make up a government in the state. In order to lure the contractual teachers for the upcoming state elections around two months ago, Chief Minister of the state Nitish Kumar announced a slew of benefits for contractual teachers appointed by panchayati raj institutions and urban local bodies. Contractual teachers appointed since 2006 got a 15% hike in their basic salary and providing gains of Employees Provident Fund (EPF). Though the announcement made months before the elections, will be implemented from April, 2021. However, the benefits failed to cut much ice with the teachers which they said did not meet their demands. In some parts, teachers’ groups also burnt copies of the order and threatened a bigger agitation. Leader of opposition in the state and Mahagathbandhan’s chief ministerial candidate, Tejaswi Yadav while releasing the coalitions also listed equal pay for Bihar’s 3.5 lakh contractual teachers if voted to power, among other promises. “They would get the same pay for the same work, for which they have been fighting for long,” he said. In 2017, on the petition of the ‘nijyojit shikshak’ Patna High Court had ruled that contractual teachers in government schools were entitled to the same salary as permanent teachers. However, the state government challenged the decision and in May last year, the Supreme Court ruled in its favor, stating that the Bihar government could have two different cadres of teachers. While the benefits provided by the current ruling party of the state when implemented will cost the state somewhere around Rs 1950 crores and if combined with the EPF benefits, the amount will jump to Rs 2765 crores to the state exchequer. The state of Bihar is one of the first states in the country and the world witnessing assembly elections amid the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. Voting for the three-phased election has started on October, while second and third phase polling will take place on November 3 and November 7, respectively. The results will be declared on November 10.