Amid clamour for domicile policy, Nitish says people of his state will be given priority in teacher recruitment

Indian Express

5 days ago

Amid long-standing demands and protests, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said in a social media post that he has directed the Education Department to amend existing rules to ensure that candidates from Bihar are given priority in the Teacher Recruitment Examination (TRE), beginning with TRE-4 in 2025.
Jobs have emerged as a core issue in poll-bound Bihar amid the demand for a domicile policy by large sections of the electorate, especially among aspirants preparing for teacher recruitment exams.
The move comes a few weeks after the state government's July 8 approval of 35% reservation for women native to Bihar in all government jobs. Though there had been a 35% reservation in state government jobs for women since 2016, it was previously open to women from other states as well.
In his social media post, the Chief Minister also said the government has continuously worked to improve the education system since taking office in November 2005.
'Teachers have been appointed in large numbers in order to strengthen the education system. The Education Department has been directed to amend the relevant rules to give priority to the people of Bihar in the teacher appointment process,' the Chief Minister said.
The Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) conducts TRE to fill teaching positions in primary, secondary, and senior secondary schools across the state. With this change, candidates with long-term domicile status in Bihar could now be prioritised over applicants from other states.
Over the last many months, Patna's streets have witnessed multiple protests supporting the demand, with the slogan 'Vote de Bihari, naukari le bahri (Biharis vote, outsiders take jobs)' gaining traction.
Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD and Jan Suraaj chief Prashant Kishor have been among prominent politicians backing the demand for some time, with Yadav previously even promising 100% reservation across all jobs if the RJD comes to power in the coming polls.
Reacting to the announcement, Tejashwi again accused the NDA government of copying the Opposition's agenda.
In a social media post, he said, 'It is a matter of immense delight that the ideologically bankrupt NDA government, which used to outright reject our demand to implement the domicile policy in Bihar and boasted in the Assembly that it would never implement such a policy under any circumstances, is now copying this announcement just like they have imitated our other schemes.'
He added, 'It is clear that this copycat NDA government of 20 years has no policy, vision, or direction of its own. The people of Bihar are enjoying watching a government, which in twenty years couldn't figure out what to do or what not to do, now dance to our cues, demands, and announcements.'
At the same time, LJP (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan, who is a constituent of the NDA, said, 'The NDA government in Bihar, led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, has taken the historic decision to implement a domicile policy in Bihar. I and my party…welcome and support this decision. This will give priority to the local youth in state government jobs. This decision is a major initiative by the government to connect local unemployed youth to government jobs in Bihar. I had also been making a longstanding and widespread demand for the implementation of a domicile policy in the state, which the government has now started to implement in the education sector.'