 "A tricky lesson for Bihar")
On March 17, Nitish Kumar held an impressive rally in Delhi's Ramlila Grounds, demanding that Bihar be declared a "special category state". He talked about the Bihar model of growth, and let everybody know his growing clout in national politics. Given the new political alignments being drawn up in the country, the United Progressive Alliance quickly warmed up to the Bihar Chief Minister's demand. His mission to the capital was successful. Scarcely would anyone have believed that less than a fortnight ago, on March 5, policemen had fought a pitched battle with 10,000 agitating teachers in Patna, not far from the Legislative Assembly. The police used batons, water cannons and teargas to disperse the teachers, who retaliated with brickbats.
This was the latest round of friction between Nitish Kumar and the teachers. Last year, Nitish Kumar was shown black flags during his tours at Begusarai, Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga. The teachers next began to hurl eggs and tomatoes at him during public addresses. Then, in September last year, the teachers pelted stones at Nitish Kumar's convoy at Khagaria when he was on a tour of the state to drum up support for his demand for the special-category status to Bihar. He had to abandon the tour midway. This was the first signal that Nitish Kumar's honeymoon with the people was over. Nitish Kumar, after he took over from Lalu Prasad in 2005, had restored law and order and imparted a sense of administration in the state. But people want more. What are the teachers agitating for? The Nitish Kumar government had in 2006-07 appointed 232,000 teachers on contractual basis with a fixed pay of Rs 5,000 per month, which was later revised to Rs 7,000 per month. It seemed like a good idea at that time, when almost 12 per cent of children were not enrolled in school. Despite the reports of rampant corruption in the recruitment process, it delivered the desired results: in 2010, only 3 per cent children were found not enrolled in school. Somewhere down the line, these teachers began to demand parity with regular teachers. Their angst is unmistakable.
"We are doing more work than a regular teacher; then why are we not eligible to become one?" says Rakesh Jha from Darbhanga. "We want equal pay for equal work. What's wrong with that?" Shyam Kumar Singh of Ara says: "They (the government's officers) say that we are as regular as government teachers. But it has been more than six months since we last got our pay. Even if we get our salary (honorarium), we have to pay the mukhiya (village headman) and other officials first. What remains is not enough to feed me and my family. A regular job not only means regular pay, but also freedom from paying bribes." Ram Babu, from Samastipur, adds: "Even for basic non-financial benefits like causal leave, medical leave and special leave for women teachers, we had to fight. It took the government three years to give us a miserly increment of Rs 2,000. We want more."
The basic salary of a regular teacher on the state's rolls is Rs 20,000-25,000. So, regularising the 232,000 teachers would mean an additional burden of Rs 12,000 crore on the state exchequer. Currently, the cost of contractual teachers is being borne by the funds received under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, Rashtriya Madhmik Shiksha Abhiyan and other centrally-sponsored schemes for education. If the state government regularises their services, then the whole burden will fall on its shoulders - something it cannot afford. That's perhaps why Nitish Kumar has stated that only god can regularise their services. His deputy, Sushil Kumar Modi, went a step further and said that even god cannot regularise their services. State Education Minister PK Shahi says: "We do not have the financial strength to regularise their services. If we regularise them, then the state government would not be able to undertake a single development work. We are planning to appoint 700,000 new teachers. Imagine what the burden would be if their services were regularised." Teachers appointed on contract in Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh are also fighting for regular jobs, but with no results so far.
* * *
Meanwhile, what the agitation has done is it has opened the doors for other contractual employees, such as Vikas Mitras, Panchayat Sevaks and Krishi Mitras, to launch similar agitations. Minor administrative works like preparing the muster rolls for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and promoting new agriculture schemes rest on the shoulders of these million-plus workers. The cost of these contractual employees is also borne by the funds received under several centrally-sponsored schemes. "These appointments were done to appease the masses. Bihar never had a dominant private sector, so the majority of the people are dependent on the government for jobs. Nitish Kumar took this as an opportunity and recruited people on contractual basis. The word "contractual" was clearly mentioned at that time, but the people at the ground level did not take it seriously. Most of the people thought they would be regularised after some time, which did not happen. The people, who hired them, did not bother to put things in order. Hence, the discontent became visible," says an observer who doesn't wish to be named.
It also reflects the Nitish Kumar government's inability to create private sector jobs. Since the regime change in 2005, Bihar has received investment proposals worth Rs 300,000 crore. However, the unavailability of power and land has remained a major bottleneck in the inflow of private investment. During the last seven years, the state has received investment worth only Rs 5,028 crores - less than 2 per cent of the promised amount - which has provided employment to 13,000 people. However, for a population of 108 million, this is just a drop in the ocean. The unemployment rate in the state is still at 10 per cent, which means over 10 million people in the state do not have any job. So in 2006-07, when the state government announced its plan to hire teachers on contractual basis, people literally fought to get in. The job had no social security and no benefits thrown in, but was better than being idle.
During the recruitment, no qualifying tests or interviews were conducted. Most of them got the job by just presenting a mark sheet to the mukhiyas. One officer of the Bihar government says: "It was open season for the mukhiyas. They had the power to appoint these teachers, who were more than willing to pay a "tribute" in return. So, all kinds of people were taken in, including some unruly elements." As most of the mukhiyas are political workers of the ruling coalition - Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal (United) - the state government is no mood to order any enquiry. The situation was further complicated by the reports of falling quality of education at primary schools, where majority of these teachers have been placed.
* * *
"This is what happens when you turn education into a job scheme," says Sanjeev Shyam Singh, senior teacher leader and member of the Bihar Legislative Council. "The focus of the state government has been to increase the number of students and teachers. There is no concern about the quality of education. Contracts mean closing the avenue for further promotion and hence the scope for enhancement of skills."
The state government accepts its failure, but also gives the reasons for this. "You may say we compromised on the quality of teachers. However, at that time there was no mechanism to recruit teachers. It would have taken years had we gone through the usual channel," the officer says.
Meanwhile, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad is trying hard to woo these teachers. He did a somersault last year when he announced he will regularise these teachers if he is voted back in power - he had earlier said that he would look afresh at the entire process since the present government has compromised on the quality of education.
With the political stakes rising, the Nitish Kumar government has promised a "good" increase to the contractual teachers from the next financial year. It has not made clear how "good" it would be. However, even a nominal increase of Rs 500 per month means an additional burden of Rs 150 crore on the state. The teachers can take heart from the government's decision to revise the honorarium for the Krishi Mitras, Vikas Mitras and Panchayat Sevaks. This has prompted one JD (U) MLA to comment, "It is a necessary raise. Next year is election year and hence the government is not in a position to offend these teachers. Ground work for the election will be done by these teachers. It will be they who will prepare the voter list and man the booths. Imagine the consequence of these teachers being angry. They would unbalance the whole game plan of Nitish Kumar, who wants to hold a commanding position in the next Lok Sabha."
The promise of a pay revision and the ending of the current round of protests have come as a relief to many members of treasury bench, who were afraid to go back to their assembly constituencies. Only last week, one MLA had told Business Standard, "Kya chahte hain, agli baar MLA naa bane? (Do you want me to lose my seat in next election?) Teachers are planning a gherao. They are very angry."
This was the latest round of friction between Nitish Kumar and the teachers. Last year, Nitish Kumar was shown black flags during his tours at Begusarai, Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga. The teachers next began to hurl eggs and tomatoes at him during public addresses. Then, in September last year, the teachers pelted stones at Nitish Kumar's convoy at Khagaria when he was on a tour of the state to drum up support for his demand for the special-category status to Bihar. He had to abandon the tour midway. This was the first signal that Nitish Kumar's honeymoon with the people was over. Nitish Kumar, after he took over from Lalu Prasad in 2005, had restored law and order and imparted a sense of administration in the state. But people want more. What are the teachers agitating for? The Nitish Kumar government had in 2006-07 appointed 232,000 teachers on contractual basis with a fixed pay of Rs 5,000 per month, which was later revised to Rs 7,000 per month. It seemed like a good idea at that time, when almost 12 per cent of children were not enrolled in school. Despite the reports of rampant corruption in the recruitment process, it delivered the desired results: in 2010, only 3 per cent children were found not enrolled in school. Somewhere down the line, these teachers began to demand parity with regular teachers. Their angst is unmistakable.
"We are doing more work than a regular teacher; then why are we not eligible to become one?" says Rakesh Jha from Darbhanga. "We want equal pay for equal work. What's wrong with that?" Shyam Kumar Singh of Ara says: "They (the government's officers) say that we are as regular as government teachers. But it has been more than six months since we last got our pay. Even if we get our salary (honorarium), we have to pay the mukhiya (village headman) and other officials first. What remains is not enough to feed me and my family. A regular job not only means regular pay, but also freedom from paying bribes." Ram Babu, from Samastipur, adds: "Even for basic non-financial benefits like causal leave, medical leave and special leave for women teachers, we had to fight. It took the government three years to give us a miserly increment of Rs 2,000. We want more."
The basic salary of a regular teacher on the state's rolls is Rs 20,000-25,000. So, regularising the 232,000 teachers would mean an additional burden of Rs 12,000 crore on the state exchequer. Currently, the cost of contractual teachers is being borne by the funds received under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, Rashtriya Madhmik Shiksha Abhiyan and other centrally-sponsored schemes for education. If the state government regularises their services, then the whole burden will fall on its shoulders - something it cannot afford. That's perhaps why Nitish Kumar has stated that only god can regularise their services. His deputy, Sushil Kumar Modi, went a step further and said that even god cannot regularise their services. State Education Minister PK Shahi says: "We do not have the financial strength to regularise their services. If we regularise them, then the state government would not be able to undertake a single development work. We are planning to appoint 700,000 new teachers. Imagine what the burden would be if their services were regularised." Teachers appointed on contract in Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh are also fighting for regular jobs, but with no results so far.
* * *
Meanwhile, what the agitation has done is it has opened the doors for other contractual employees, such as Vikas Mitras, Panchayat Sevaks and Krishi Mitras, to launch similar agitations. Minor administrative works like preparing the muster rolls for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and promoting new agriculture schemes rest on the shoulders of these million-plus workers. The cost of these contractual employees is also borne by the funds received under several centrally-sponsored schemes. "These appointments were done to appease the masses. Bihar never had a dominant private sector, so the majority of the people are dependent on the government for jobs. Nitish Kumar took this as an opportunity and recruited people on contractual basis. The word "contractual" was clearly mentioned at that time, but the people at the ground level did not take it seriously. Most of the people thought they would be regularised after some time, which did not happen. The people, who hired them, did not bother to put things in order. Hence, the discontent became visible," says an observer who doesn't wish to be named.
It also reflects the Nitish Kumar government's inability to create private sector jobs. Since the regime change in 2005, Bihar has received investment proposals worth Rs 300,000 crore. However, the unavailability of power and land has remained a major bottleneck in the inflow of private investment. During the last seven years, the state has received investment worth only Rs 5,028 crores - less than 2 per cent of the promised amount - which has provided employment to 13,000 people. However, for a population of 108 million, this is just a drop in the ocean. The unemployment rate in the state is still at 10 per cent, which means over 10 million people in the state do not have any job. So in 2006-07, when the state government announced its plan to hire teachers on contractual basis, people literally fought to get in. The job had no social security and no benefits thrown in, but was better than being idle.
During the recruitment, no qualifying tests or interviews were conducted. Most of them got the job by just presenting a mark sheet to the mukhiyas. One officer of the Bihar government says: "It was open season for the mukhiyas. They had the power to appoint these teachers, who were more than willing to pay a "tribute" in return. So, all kinds of people were taken in, including some unruly elements." As most of the mukhiyas are political workers of the ruling coalition - Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal (United) - the state government is no mood to order any enquiry. The situation was further complicated by the reports of falling quality of education at primary schools, where majority of these teachers have been placed.
* * *
"This is what happens when you turn education into a job scheme," says Sanjeev Shyam Singh, senior teacher leader and member of the Bihar Legislative Council. "The focus of the state government has been to increase the number of students and teachers. There is no concern about the quality of education. Contracts mean closing the avenue for further promotion and hence the scope for enhancement of skills."
The state government accepts its failure, but also gives the reasons for this. "You may say we compromised on the quality of teachers. However, at that time there was no mechanism to recruit teachers. It would have taken years had we gone through the usual channel," the officer says.
Meanwhile, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad is trying hard to woo these teachers. He did a somersault last year when he announced he will regularise these teachers if he is voted back in power - he had earlier said that he would look afresh at the entire process since the present government has compromised on the quality of education.
With the political stakes rising, the Nitish Kumar government has promised a "good" increase to the contractual teachers from the next financial year. It has not made clear how "good" it would be. However, even a nominal increase of Rs 500 per month means an additional burden of Rs 150 crore on the state. The teachers can take heart from the government's decision to revise the honorarium for the Krishi Mitras, Vikas Mitras and Panchayat Sevaks. This has prompted one JD (U) MLA to comment, "It is a necessary raise. Next year is election year and hence the government is not in a position to offend these teachers. Ground work for the election will be done by these teachers. It will be they who will prepare the voter list and man the booths. Imagine the consequence of these teachers being angry. They would unbalance the whole game plan of Nitish Kumar, who wants to hold a commanding position in the next Lok Sabha."
The promise of a pay revision and the ending of the current round of protests have come as a relief to many members of treasury bench, who were afraid to go back to their assembly constituencies. Only last week, one MLA had told Business Standard, "Kya chahte hain, agli baar MLA naa bane? (Do you want me to lose my seat in next election?) Teachers are planning a gherao. They are very angry."