Newly appointed teacher may lose job if found guilty of forming union, warns Bihar Govt

The Government of Bihar has issued a warning, threatening severe consequences, including the termination of newly hired teachers’ appointments, if they organise or join a “association” or engage in any kind of protest against the department of education’s policy.

In a statement released on November 11, the Education Department issued a strict warning to recently appointed teachers, stating that about 1.20 lakh teachers who passed the 2023 Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) recruitment exam were given “provisional appointment letters” on November 2, news agency PTI reported.

The statement said they have not been allotted postings so far, nor they have started teaching in schools. But it has come to the notice that some of them have formed an association or become part of it and are criticising the Education department’s policies…It is a grave misconduct under the Bihar Government Employees Conduct Rules-1976.

“… they must refrain from indulging in such activities. The department will initiate strict disciplinary action, including cancellation of their provisional appointments with immediate effect if they are found guilty”, the department said.

It said that “Teachers selected from BPSC should not form any kind of union nor be a part of it. The attention of these school teachers has been drawn to Paragraph 7 of Section 17 of the Code of Conduct of Bihar School Teachers Rules 2023. Under this, Bihar Government Servants Code of Conduct 1976 applies to all school teachers”.

“The provisionally appointed teachers have formed an association… Formation of this association is illegal… This illegal association has also got its letterpads printed. The department has sought an explanation from an office-bearer of this association, who is a newly recruited teacher… Provisional appointment of such teachers can be cancelled with immediate effect”, said the department.

Despite repeated attempts, Bihar Education Minister Chandrashekhar was not available for his comments.

Commenting on the Education Department’s statement, Raju Singh, convener of TET Primary Teachers’ Association told PTI on Sunday, “We are in support of this decision of the Education Department. The newly recruited teachers, whose appointments are provisional in nature, can’t form or become part of an unregistered association….it’s illegal. They can do it only after completion of their probation period. Everybody has the right to express his or her views, but it should be as per the provisions of the law and government employees conduct rules”.

As many as 1.20 lakh candidates cleared the examination held by the BPSC for 1.70 lakh posts of teachers in the state. The appointment letter distribution events were held in Patna Gandhi Maidan besides every district of the state. The BPSC conducted the Bihar Teachers Recruitment Exam 2023 on August 24, 25, and 26, in the offline mode. The exam was conducted at designated exam centres across the state.