Bihar government has issued fresh warning to school teachers appointed between 2006 and 2015 through panchayati raj institutions and urban local bodies to upload their employment documents for verification as per the order of the Patna high court by July 20, or be ready to lose their jobs and payback the salaries received so far.
“If the documents are not uploaded, it will be assumed that they have nothing to say regarding the validity of their appointment and considering it prima facile irregular/illegal, the process will be initiated for their removal and recovery of salary paid through the recruiting agencies,” said a letter from director, primary education, Ranjeet Kumar Singh to all the district education officers (DEOs).
A total of 3.52 lakh teachers, including 2082 librarians were appointed in Bihar, between 2006 and 2015. Of them 3.11 lakh were elementary teachers, including 1.04 lakh Shiksha Mitras appointed for ₹1500/month honorarium and later elevated to the rank of Panchayat teachers. It was later revealed that many of these appointments, especially for elementary teachers, were made on the basis of forged documents..
The Patna high court ordered a vigilance probe into the matter in 2015 but it could not be finished on time. After several delays, the high court expressed disappointment over the unending probe in January this year and also threatened action. The appointment documents of close to 1.25-lakh teachers are said to be unavailable. The Bihar education department then shifted the onus of verification of documents on the teachers, who have been asked to get their mark sheets, job application and the recruitment letter uploaded on a web portal designed for the purpose.
Ranjeet Kumar Singh noted the slow progress in uploading of documents despite reminders and asked the district education officers (DEOs) to carry out necessary corrections to ensure there were no errors in recording key employment details like name of applicants, date of joining etc. He also asked them to complete the uploading process by July 20.
Earlier, Bihar education minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary had warned the teachers that their appointment will be declared illegal if they failed to upload their documents for verification on the education department’s online portal.
