Bihar cabinet nod for domicile policy in recruitment of school teachers

The Bihar Cabinet on Tuesday gave its nod for the implementation of domicile policy in the recruitment of teachers, reserving around 85 per cent of posts for ''native residents'' of the state.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had on Monday announced that the policy will be implemented for the recruitment of school teachers.

The decision assumes significance ahead of the assembly polls, due to be held later this year.

''The proposal for giving preference to native residents of the state in teachers' recruitment exams was cleared,'' Additional Chief Secretary (Cabinet Secretariat) S Siddharth said after the cabinet meeting.

''Already more than 50 per cent of seats are reserved for the state's residents. This is because quotas for SCs, STs, OBCs and Extremely Backwards Classes account for nearly 50 per cent, while another 10 per cent is reserved for the economically weaker sections,'' he said.

Siddharth said another 35 per cent is reserved for women, and the government has already taken a decision that only residents of the state will be accommodated in that quota.

''Of the remaining seats, 40 per cent shall now be reserved for native residents of Bihar, who completed their class 10 and class 12 in the state. So the quota for native residents effectively will be more than 85 per cent,'' he added.

The state has witnessed massive protests over the issue in the recent past.

Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav promised ''100 per cent domicile'' if his RJD comes to power in the state.

Union minister Chirag Paswan also came out in support of the demand for the implementation of the domicile policy.

A large number of youth staged a demonstration in Patna on August 1 over the issue.

The cabinet also increased the honorarium of 2,350 physical education teachers of government schools from Rs 8,000 to Rs 16,000 per month. They will also get an annual increment of Rs 400.

Approval was also given to increase the honorarium of 6,000 night guards working in secondary and higher secondary schools in the capital, from Rs 6,000 per month to Rs 10,000.

''Decision was also taken to double the honorarium of 2.18 lakh cooks working under the mid-day meal programme in the Education Department. It will increase from Rs 1,650 to Rs 3,300 per month,'' Siddharth said.

The cabinet also approved an increase in the incentives for Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) and Mamata Health workers.

''ASHA workers will now be provided with an incentive of Rs 3,000 instead of Rs 1,000. Similarly, Mamta workers will be provided with an incentive amount of Rs 600 per delivery, instead of Rs 300,'' the officer said.

Approval was given to increase the monthly incentive for sanitation workers and supervisors engaged under the Bihar Lohiya Swachh Abhiyan in rural areas, to Rs 5,000 and Rs 9,000, respectively, he said.

The cabinet also gave its approval for setting up digital libraries in all panchayats in the state, he said, adding that each one will have at least 10 computers for visitors.

In another important decision, the cabinet approved the energy department's proposal for setting up a 2,400 MW (800 MWX3) thermal power plant in place of a solar power plant at Pirpainti in Bhagalpur, he said. The cabinet also gave its nod to run inter-state bus service on a public–private partnership (PPP) mode in order to deal with the rush of passengers between Durga puja and Chhatth and during Holi, said the official.

As per the scheme, Bihar State Road Transport Corporation will have an agreement with private bus operators for starting service for a period of five years, and the bus operators will be given Rs 150 per seat during peak side and Rs 300 per seat off-peak side.

The cabinet approved an expansion plan of industrial areas to promote investment and creation of employment opportunities in different districts in the state. As part of the exercise, the Infrastructure Development Authority (IDA), Patna will acquire 441.79 acres of land in Aurangabad district at a cost of Rs 284.28 crore. Similarly, IDA will acquire 252.30 acres of land in Katihar district at a cost of Rs 39.0 crore. It will also acquire 524.95 acres of land at a cost of Rs 264.65 crore in Nalanda district.

''A total of 700 acres of land will be acquired by IDA in Muzaffarpur at a cost of Rs 297.18 crore while 498.06 acres of land will be acquired at a cost of Rs 151.74 crore in Supaul district'', he said, adding another 96.89 acres of land will be transferred to industries department for construction of new industrial corridor in Bhagalpur district.

The cabinet sanctioned Rs 154.30 crore for installing two cameras each on 90,712 polling stations in Bihar for the successful conduct of assembly elections due later this year.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)