NEW DELHI, July 1: Seven teachers were injured after police resorted to lathi charge to prevent about 3,000 teachers and job applicants from marching to Patna’s Raj Bhavan from Gandhi Maidan.
Teachers have been protesting against the Nitish Kumar-led Mahagathbandhan government’s recent decision to remove the domicile policy in hiring 1.7 lakh teachers which would allow the applicants from other states to compete for teachers’ jobs.
Teachers and job applicants first started marching from Gandhi Maidan around 11.30 am. As protests and demonstrations are not allowed in the vicinity of Raj Bhavan and the CM House, Patna police first verbally told them to stop, and later started to lathi charge.
A large number of teachers still managed to cross the police barriers to reach Dak Bungalow Chowk, prompting police to start a second round of lathi charge in which seven teachers were injured and hospitalised. “The demonstration was staged without any permission from the administration. We are trying to explain to the protesters that what they are doing is illegal. Use of force has been a last resort,” Deputy Superintendent of Police, Law and Order, Patna, Nurul Haq, told reporters.
Asked about the number of people who have been taken into custody, the Deputy SP said, “At present, we are not in a position to give the figures. We will work it out and let details be known once we are through with maintaining order in the affected area.”
At the protest site, the anger was palpable. “We are educated people holding a peaceful demonstration over our legitimate concerns. Yet they are using force and arresting us as if we were criminals”, said a job aspirant. Bihar Teachers Eligibility Test (BTET) Association president Amit Vikram said, “There was no immediate provocation for the government to remove the domicile clause in the middle of the appointment process. The government wants the process to be delayed as it does not intend to appoint teachers.”
The BJP Rajya Sabha member and former deputy chief minister Sushil Modi said, “I wonder why the state government has changed the rules midway through the process. It only wants to delay. So far, nine changes have been made. Now that the domicile clause has been removed, the government will have to invite applications afresh.”
The BJP has announced that it will hold a ‘Vidhan Sabha’ march on July 13, the penultimate day of the assembly’s monsoon session commencing on July 10, in support of the demand of aspirants for teachers’ jobs.
The state cabinet had on June 27 removed the condition that only those with Bihar domicile can apply for the post of 1.7 lakh teachers for classes 1 to class 12 – with the exception of classes 6 to 8.
The situation was exacerbated with the state’s education minister Chandra Shekhar giving a statement that the policy was brought in view of a dearth of talent within the state.
(Manas Dasgupta)
