Patna: The Bihar government has said it will prevent school teachers from being assigned non-academic duties and is preparing to release three months’ salary to around 5,500 teachers whose payments have been pending.
Speaking during the second session of the Bihar legislative council, education minister Sunil Kumar said the department had taken concrete steps to ensure teachers focus solely on academic responsibilities. His remarks came in the absence of opposition members in the House.
Responding to a resolution moved by Dr Virendra Narayan Yadav seeking to free teachers from non-academic work, Kumar said the department had already sought a list of teachers currently engaged in such duties and imposed a ban on further appointments to non-teaching assignments.
“If, despite these directions, any teacher is assigned non-academic work, they can file a complaint on the department’s portal,” Kumar said, adding that the government was serious about enforcing the directive.
The minister also addressed concerns about pay scales for teachers and non-teaching staff in unaided schools and colleges. He said a committee headed by the chief secretary had been constituted to examine the issue. The panel is expected to meet soon, after which a decision will be taken.
“The government will arrive at a practical solution after considering all aspects,” Kumar said.
The House further discussed the salary structure of teachers employed in government-funded madrasas and Sanskrit schools. Kumar said the government was acting in line with earlier decisions and was making preparations to release a lump-sum payment covering three months’ salary to approximately 5,500 teachers reinstated on compassionate grounds. The move is intended to resolve long-standing payment delays.
On other proposals raised in the council – including declaring a government holiday on International Women’s Day, issuing arms licences to panchayat representatives, increasing honorariums, providing unemployment allowances and creating new districts or sub-divisions – ministers said that in several cases no formal proposal was currently under consideration, while some matters may be reviewed in the future.
