As the State Government plans to distribute appointment letters to recruit thousands of teachers in primary schools, the issue of outsiders versus insiders is once again likely to raise its ugly head and the stage appears to be all set for a showdown between the BJP-led Government and the Opposition, which is eager to draw first blood.
According to sources, the department of Human Resource Development (HRD) is planning to distribute appointment letters to Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) qualified candidates from January 26 onwards and about 7,000 to 8,000 candidates are likely to receive appointment letters in the first phase of the recruitment process.
But the problem, which has worried even the BJP, is that a major section of TET qualified students comprises those from Bengal, Odisha and Bihar. “If we go ahead with the list, the BJP might face backlash at the grass-root level,” pointed out a BJP leader.No wonder, the Opposition has geared up to make it an issue and planned to hold a protest in case the Government went ahead without defining the domicile policy.
“We are against this decision and will hit the streets to protest against the appointment process. We want that unless domicile is defined the appointment should not be made. We will continue our protest if the Government doesn’t yield to our demand,” said JMM Spokesperson, Supriyo Bhattacharya.
Notably, Jharkhand still lacks a domicile policy despite a draft committee setup during the tenure of previous Government to decide framework for the policy and also evolve consensus among political parties on the provisions to segregate son of the soil from outsiders. But the committee failed in its purpose and the domicile issue has remained the Achilles Heel’s of the State Government and the single biggest hurdle for filling up vacant position in education and other Government departments.
Controversy had erupted after former HRD Minister Geetashree Oraon had stated to disqualify aspirants opting for non-tribal languages in TET examination that was based on the fear of the former Minister that not doing so would lead to dominance of outsiders and marginalisation of indigenous Jharkhandi. Oraon still believes that her stand was relevant and claims that the same concern is being raised by people too.
“I don’t think that the issue has been addressed yet. Unless there is a domicile policy framed interests of the locals cannot be preserved. Ideally the Government should not proceed with the decision to distribute appointment letters because that would lead to dominance of people who hail from other State,” said Oraon.