Patna rocked by protests against opening teachers' jobs for those not from Bihar

The Bihar capital was on Saturday rocked by protests against the state governments controversial decision to allow those from other provinces to compete for teachers jobsA massive demonstration was staged by young men and women at the Dak Bungalow crossing in the heart of Patna creating traffic snarls even as police took recourse to use of force for dispersal and rounded up quite a few who they found most unrulyThe demonstration is being 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 reportersAsked about the number of people both men and women 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 areaHowever the protesters who claimed to have cleared eligibility tests like CTET and BTET alleged that the police action was reflective of the governments apathyDo these people not have any shame We are educated people and holding a peaceful demonstration over our legitimate concerns Yet they are using force and arresting us as if we were criminals said Puja Singh a job aspirant who had come from Begusarai districtNotably the Nitish Kumar cabinet had earlier this week announced that a no domicile policy will be adopted for recruitment of teachers drawing flak from the opposition BJP as well as the CPIML Liberation which supports the Mahagathbandhan government from the outsideThe situation seems to have been exacerbated with the states education minister Chandra Shekhar giving a statement that the policy was brought in view of a dearth of talent within the stateMeanwhile the BJP has announced that it will hold a Vidhan Sabha march on July 13 the penultimate day of the assemblys monsoon session commencing on July 10 in support of the demand of aspirants for teachers jobsBJPs leader in the state legislature Vijay Kumar Sinha alleged at a press conference that education in Bihar has been ruined in the last 30 years an obvious allusion to the RJDs 15 years rule till 2005 when Nitish Kumar took overThe BJP leader whose party shared power with Kumar till about a year ago also took potshots at the RJD supremos Charwaha Vidyalaya scheme and alleged that it denoted the ruling partys frivolous attitude towards educationSpeaking at the same press conference state BJP president Samrat Choudhary also said Our Vidhan Sabha march which will commence at Gandhi Maidan about three kms away will also be in support of other demands of teachers and job aspirantsWe support the demand of CTET and BTET pass candidates that they be considered for direct appointment as teachers instead of a lengthy screening process conducted by the states public service commission Choudhary saidThe Bihar BJP president also demanded that the state government must also immediately consider regularising noncommissioned niyojit teachers and bring them at par with government employeesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever