By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,
Patna: Mere good intention doesn’t help the needy. If you are a chief minister, your good intention for a community or class may prolong your stay in power but this doesn’t help the community or class until your administration and bureaucrats work according to your intention honestly. Seven years ago, the Bihar government had announced recruitment of about 13000 Urdu teachers. Thanks to biased bureaucratic mind leading to court case, they are yet to be appointed.
In December 2003, the education department of Bihar government, then under the rule of RJD of Lalu Yadav, published advertisement for recruitment of 34000 primary teachers including 12,862 Urdu primary teachers. But soon after coming to power in mid-2005, the same department, now under the JDU-BJP government of Nitish Kumar, made changes in eligibility criteria for Urdu teachers effectively turning majority of the announced Urdu posts into general category. The criteria of having an Urdu paper of minimum 50 marks was changed and replaced with 200 marks.
The department made some other changes also in the eligibility norms harshly affecting the chances of Urdu teachers. The affected applicants took the matter to the court. Presently, the Supreme Court is hearing the case.
Hajjan Begum Sughra Hasan Memorial Urdu girls School, Darbhanga, Bihar
In an interview with TwoCircles.net, S M Imtiyaz, president, Bihar State Primary Trained Assistant Teachers Union, talks about the case in detail. He has put the case before a committee appointed by the apex court. He says that the committee has found deliberate changes in norms by the state government department that majorly affected the Urdu teachers.
“Out of announced 12862 posts of primary Urdu teachers, 7738 posts have been given to non-Urdu speaking trained teachers by the education department. If they continued working on their design, 3524 out of 5142 appointed Urdu teachers will lose their job,” says Imtiyaz.