Now Reading: Bihar govt school teachers face new digital leave rules, EL withheld for 3 years
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Bihar govt school teachers face new digital leave rules, EL withheld for 3 years
Bihar govt school teachers face new digital leave rules, EL withheld for 3 years
The Story in Brief
Bihar has overhauled leave rules for government school teachers, moving all applications to the e-Shikshakosh digital portal from 29 October. Oral or paper applications will be invalid, and teachers appointed in the last three years will not receive earned leave. They will instead get one month of unpaid leave after 11 months of work, and no teacher can take more than two consecutive months off.
The education department said the rules were designed to bring transparency and prevent fake attendance. Under Bihar Service Code Rule 152, leave is not a right. Absence without approval will result in salary suspension and a break in service. Casual and special leave must be decided by the headmaster or block education officer on the same day. Applications for maternity, child care and medical leave must be forwarded to the district education officer within three working days, and the DEO must decide within seven working days. Education minister Mithilesh Tiwari said the process was simplified and made transparent, and warned of action against officers who miss the deadlines.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The new leave rules apply to roughly 4.5 lakh teachers across Bihar's government schools. The transfer of all leave processing to a digital portal removes the discretion of local headmasters and block education officers, a change intended to curb absenteeism and fake attendance. Teachers who joined within the last three years lose earned leave entirely, trading it for unpaid leave after 11 months of work. The education department has set strict turnaround times, same-day for casual leave, three to seven working days for others, and flagged automatic escalation and penalties for officers who delay. How the portal, mobile app and escalation system perform under real workloads will determine whether the policy reduces or redirects bureaucratic friction.
Source: bhaskar.com
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Methodology and corrections.
