05-08-2025
Bihar cabinet clears rules to reserve 85% teacher posts for permanent residents: Official
PATNA: The Bihar cabinet on Tuesday approved new domicile rules for recruitment of government school teachers, reserving about 85% of the posts for permanent residents of the state. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar (HT Photo/Santosh Kumar)
Additional chief secretary (cabinet) S Siddharth said the domicile policy would ensure that 85% of teaching posts in state-run schools are reserved for Bihar residents. This provision is part of the Bihar State School Teacher Appointment, Transfer, Disciplinary Action and Service Conditions Amendment Rules 2025, approved by the Nitish Kumar cabinet at its meeting on Tuesday.
Last month, the cabinet also mandated that the 35% quota for women for these jobs would only be available to the state's women.
The changes ahead of state elections later this year are seen to respond to an opposition campaign to restore the domicile rule in public recruitment that was scrapped in 2016. Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav has promised a '100% domicile' rule if the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) comes to power. Union minister Chirag Paswan has also supported the demand to stipulate the domicile rule for recruitment to the government.
Nitish Kumar had announced the move to give preference to candidates from the state in the recruitment of teachers in a post on X on Monday.
Siddharth said the domicile policy ensures that 85% teaching posts are effectively reserved for Bihar residents. The reservation structure is built upon existing quotas, with 50% allocated for caste-based reservations and 10% for the economically weaker sections (EWS). Of the remaining 40% unreserved (general) seats, 35% are already reserved for women from Bihar. Now, an additional 40% of the unreserved seats will be allocated to candidates who have passed their matriculation and intermediate examinations from any board in Bihar.
Candidates must have completed their matriculation and intermediate education in Bihar to qualify as a state resident under this rule.
Siddharth said the policy effectively ensures that 85% of the teacher posts will be filled by permanent residents of Bihar, giving a significant advantage to local candidates.
The cabinet meeting, which cleared 36 proposals in all, has also approved initiatives such as the establishment of digital libraries in every assembly constituency and an increase in honorarium for various workers.
With an outlay of over ₹94.50 crore, the plan is to set up digital libraries in every assembly constituency to support students preparing for competitive exams like JEE, NEET, and CLAT. These libraries will provide access to online course materials and digital study resources, fostering advanced education through technology. Siddharth said that the initiative will empower students by offering modern learning tools in their local areas.
The cabinet also approved the amendments to the building byelaws, which will guide the development of planned townships based on land pooling. These townships will include designated spaces for roads, parks, parking areas, and playgrounds, ensuring organised urban growth.
Additionally, the cabinet increased honorarium for various workers. Physical education instructors will now receive ₹16,000 monthly, night watchmen in middle schools will earn ₹10,000 (up from ₹5,000), ASHA workers' honorarium has risen from ₹2,000 to ₹3,000, Mamta workers' from ₹300 to ₹600, and cooks' from ₹1,650 to ₹3,300. Sanitation workers also received a pay hike, reflecting the government's commitment to improving the livelihoods of contractual workers.
The cabinet also approved education department's proposal to change the reference date to complete 75% attendance to avail various benefits such as scholarships, uniform and bicycle through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), Siddharth said adding that reference date will now be April 1 to July 31, 2025 as against the existing reference date of April 1 to September 30.
