Tejashwi flags teacher transfer irregularities, seeks pending salaries

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has urged Bihar chief minister Samrat Choudhary to intervene in what he described as serious concerns surrounding the ongoing teacher-transfer exercise in the state, while also demanding the immediate release of pending salaries of teachers and non-teaching staff working in aided madrasas and Sanskrit schools.

In a letter to the chief minister, Yadav said he had been receiving a steady stream of complaints from teachers over the transfer process, particularly regarding the treatment of Urdu, Arabic and Persian teachers in government schools.

He called for an impartial review of the existing transfer and surplus lists, alleging that several teachers may have been included in them in violation of established norms. He also urged the government to ensure that Urdu and Sanskrit teachers are available in every government school.

Yadav described the reported treatment of teachers of Urdu, Arabic and Persian as a matter of serious concern, particularly in cases where a school’s only teacher for one of these subjects had allegedly been declared “surplus” and placed on the transfer list.

“If only one teacher for a subject is available in a school, treating them as surplus and transferring them is equivalent to ending the teaching of that subject in that school,” Yadav said in his letter.

He further alleged that sanctioned posts for Urdu, Arabic and Persian were being removed or declared surplus even in schools where student enrolment was sufficient to justify their continuation.

The RJD leader also questioned the reported inclusion of teachers with less than five years of service, contractual teachers and those who had only recently been transferred in the surplus and transfer lists.

Calling the issue far more serious than a routine administrative lapse, Yadav said the complaints raised fundamental questions about the transparency, fairness and credibility of the transfer process.

He also underscored the need for equal treatment of Urdu and Sanskrit within Bihar’s education system. Urdu, he said, is as much a part of India’s shared cultural heritage as Sanskrit and deserves equal recognition and educational importance.

Yadav urged the government to formulate a clear policy guaranteeing the availability of Urdu and Sanskrit teachers in every government school, arguing that the teaching of both languages should be protected and strengthened rather than weakened through administrative decisions.

Salary arrears raise concern

Yadav’s letter also drew attention to the reported delay in salaries of teachers and non-teaching employees of aided madrasas and Sanskrit schools.

According to the RJD leader, salaries have allegedly remained unpaid for around five to six months, leaving employees and their families struggling to meet routine expenses related to education, healthcare, household needs and other essentials.

He said keeping salaries pending for months despite employees continuing to discharge their duties was neither humane nor consistent with the responsibilities of a responsive government.

Yadav called for the immediate release of all outstanding salaries, stressing that employees should not be made to bear the consequences of administrative delays.

Calls for time-bound action

The RJD leader urged the state government to undertake an independent and impartial review of the current surplus and transfer lists involving Urdu, Arabic and Persian teachers and cancel transfers found to be contrary to applicable rules.

He also called for an end to the practice of declaring a school’s sole teacher for a particular subject as surplus, protection of sanctioned posts for Urdu, Arabic and Persian, and a fresh review of cases involving teachers with less than five years of service, contractual employees and recently transferred teachers.

Yadav further sought a clear policy to ensure the presence of Urdu and Sanskrit teachers in every government school, alongside the immediate payment of salary arrears to staff of aided madrasas and Sanskrit schools.

He also demanded that accountability be fixed for discrepancies uncovered during the transfer exercise and that action be taken, in accordance with the rules, against officials found responsible for violations.

Calling for decisive and time-bound intervention, Yadav urged the chief minister to direct the concerned department to address the complaints without delay and ensure that no language, subject or teacher faces discrimination.

He concluded that Bihar’s education system should not be allowed to stumble under the weight of political or administrative negligence, and that fairness, transparency and equal opportunity must remain at the heart of decisions affecting teachers and students.

With IANS inputs