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Chief Minister Nitish Kumar chaired the cabinet meeting.

Patna:

The Bihar cabinet on Tuesday accorded government employee status to around 3.5 lakh contractual teachers of state-run schools, an official said. These ‘exclusive teachers’ will have to pass competency exams to maintain their status as government employees, the official added.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar chaired the cabinet meeting.

“After being notified by the state government, these contractual teachers will be regarded as ‘exclusive teachers’ with the status of government employees. The education department proposed this idea and it has been approved”, S Siddharth, additional chief secretary (cabinet secretariat), told reporters after the cabinet meeting.

“Contractual teachers will be granted the status of government employees under the new rule which will be known as the ‘Bihar School Exclusive Teachers Rules, 2023”, he said.

He added, “These ‘exclusive teachers’ will have to clear competency exams to maintaining the status of government employees.” Around 3.5 lakh contractual teachers in the state are working with government-run schools managed by local bodies such as zila parishad, panchayat samiti, gram panchayat, nagar parishad and nagar panchayats, he added.

“It’s a major decision by the state government as contractual teachers were demanding government employee status for several months now,” he said.

The additional chief secretary said, “The government will decide which agency will conduct the test. It will also take a call on the fate of those who fail to clear the test. Each teacher will get three chances to clear the exam”.

“Contractual teachers employed by local bodies and covered under the relevant Local Bodies Teachers Rules 2020 will be entitled as ‘exclusive teachers’ provided they pass the competency test,” the ACS added.

The salaries of the ‘exclusive teachers’ will remain unchanged for now. “Their pay structure will be revised as per guidelines set by the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) only after they clear the competency tests,” he added.

The contractual teachers will be entitled to promotion every eight years under the new rule, he said.

The cabinet also approved the new ‘tourism policy’.

“Under the new policy, the government will develop world-class tourism facilities. It will also give financial assistance to promote hotels, restaurants and resorts. Provisions of assistance are also there for development of tourist facilities along highways and camping sites”, the additional chief secretary said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)