Sitara Devi, a resident of Chhapra in Bihar, is in the final year of her Bachelor of Education (BEd) degree.
"I want to apply for a teaching job in a government school next year but the Bihar government's decision to relax the domicile policy may severely affect my chances," she told The Quint.
On Saturday, 1 July, Patna was rocked by protests after the Nitish Kumar-led state government removed a clause according to which only those with domicile status in Bihar could apply for posts of teachers with the exception of Classes 6 to 8.
Young men and women staged a demonstration at the Dak Bungalow Crossing in the heart of the capital.
Nurul Haq, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Law and Order, Patna, said that the demonstration was being staged without any permission from the administration. Seven protesters were hurt as police lathi-charged these protesters, according to The Hindu.
So, what exactly is the new policy? Why are many teachers against it? The Quint explains.
What Was the Domicile Clause?
The decision to appoint only permanent or domiciled residents of Bihar to teachers' post was taken in December 2020 by the Bihar Education Department. Before this, the state government did not have a policy of Bihar domicile-based reservation for recruitment of teachers in government schools.
The December 2020 order reversed a government decision from 2012 that stipulated that anyone from across India could apply for teachers’ jobs in Bihar.
Making domicile compulsory for those applying for teaching jobs was also in line with Nitish Kumar's 2020 election promise of creating 19 lakh jobs.
Nitish Kumar was then in an alliance with the NDA, and this pledge was in response to the then Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD) election promise that it would generate 10 lakh jobs if it was voted to power.
In the latest move, the clause which allows only those with domicile status in Bihar to apply for posts of teachers, with the exception of Classes 6 to 8, has been scrapped.
The Bihar Government's Response
On Monday, 3 July, the Bihar government defended its decision to remove the domicile requirement for recruitment of teachers.
Bihar Education Minister Chandra Shekhar said that the domicile clause was removed because the education department was not getting sufficient quality teachers of mathematics and science, and also because the government wanted a healthy competition to get the best available teachers for the students of Bihar.
Chief Secretary Amir Subhani told The Quint that the decision to do away with the domicile clause was taken to suit the constitutional provisions and judgments of various courts, including the Supreme Court.
Referring to provisions in Article 16 of the Constitution, Subhani said the state government is not allowed to make distinctions on the basis of caste, birthplace, religion, residence, etc, in respect of appointments and employment.
He, however, clarified that those having the proven domicile of Bihar would be given the facilities of reservation.
"We decided to scrap the domicile provisions, as we realised it was illegal as well as unconstitutional,” said Subhani.
Subhani further said that in the past, the recruitment drives carried out by the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) was not domicile-based and were open to all.
"The BPSC had chosen teachers for appointment in 1994, 1999, and 2000 but without the domicile clause,” Subhani said.
He further added that the BPSC had selected around 1.68 lakh teachers in 2012, in which only 3,413 residents of other states qualified for the job.
Additional Chief Secretary (Education) KK Pathak, clarified to Hindustan Times, that the states seeking to impose any kind of restriction to favour local aspirants had to finally withdraw it. He cited the case of the Jharkhand government, which too had strict provision for reservation in the government jobs.
"Jharkhand had to amend the rules after the same was challenged in the Supreme Court in 2022,” said Pathak.
What Have Teachers' Association Said?
Amit Vikram, president of the Bihar Teachers’ Eligibility Test (BTET) Association, who had led the protest in Patna on Saturday, 1 July, told The Quint that Chandra Shekhar's argument about the scrapping of the domicile provision attracting better and specialised teachers does not hold ground.
"The current vacancies are not for middle school teachers (Classes 6 to 8) where subject specialisation is a must. Moreover, for secondary school (Classes 9 and 10) posts, only those who have cleared the secondary TET (Teacher Eligibility Test) from Bihar are eligible. Thus, for all practical purposes, applicants from outside Bihar can apply only for primary teachers' jobs, for which there are around 84,000 vacancies," he reasoned.
Then, there is also the problem of the education department not getting a large enough number of applications.
The BPSC, which administers the exams, has introduced negative marking (deduction of marks for a wrong answer) for the first time, which has discouraged applicants to an extent, sources in the department told The Indian Express.
The Politics Of It: Who Supports, Who Opposes?
The Congress has come out in support of the Bihar government's decision to withdraw the domicile policy for fresh recruitment of school teachers in the state.
Shakeel Ahmad Khan, the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader in the state Assembly, told news agency PTI, "The state government must have taken the decision after due consideration. It's a complex issue and it must be understood in totality."
Khan, whose party is part of the Grand Alliance government and has two ministers in the state Cabinet, said there is nothing wrong with the government's decision to withdraw the domicile requirement.
"If we don't do it, we have no moral right to condemn instances of attacks on job aspirants from Bihar in other states," he added.
However, the decision has irked Left parties, which support the Grand Alliance government from the outside. Left parties have announced that they will raise the issue in the upcoming Assembly session starting on 10 July.
The Left comprising CPI(ML) Liberation, CPI(M), and CPI have 16 members in the state Assembly.
"This decision is not in the interest of those who are preparing for teachers' jobs in the state. We strongly oppose it. When several states are not allowing students from Bihar to apply for government jobs there, then why did the Bihar government withdraw the domicile policy here?" CPI(ML) Liberation MLA from Paliganj Assembly seat told PTI.
Meanwhile, senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi opposed the decision and demanded its immediate withdrawal.
He said, "It is an insult to the state's talented youth as they are being deprived of their well-deserved jobs."
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