POLICE ON Friday used force to disperse candidates protesting in Patna over the delay in the release of the Bihar Public Service Commission’s (BPSC) fourth phase teacher recruitment notification, triggering sharp reactions from the Opposition amid allegations of use of excessive force.
The protest, aimed at seeking the release of the Teacher Recruitment Examination (TRE)-4 advertisement, began in the morning when a large group of teaching job aspirants marched from Patna College towards the BPSC office. Police had erected barricades near J P Golambar in Gandhi Maidan police station area to stop the procession.
According to the protesters, they were stopped for nearly two hours from 11.30 am before the situation escalated. Police resorted to lathicharge after some demonstrators allegedly attempted to break the barricades. Several students, including women candidates, were injured in the police action.
Dilip Kumar, a student leader, accused the BPSC of repeatedly delaying the recruitment process and “misleading” aspirants. He claimed that more than 13 lakh candidates were awaiting the notification.
“The commission has been giving new dates repeatedly for issuing the advertisement. Earlier, the examination controller had said the notification would be released on April 19 and applications would begin from April 25 or 26. Even by May 8, the advertisement has not been issued. That is why we came to protest today,” he said.
Police detained several demonstrators and took them away in vans as clashes broke out with the protesters.
Later in the day, Patna Police said the procession turned aggressive after reaching J P Golambar. “The demonstrators broke police barricading and pushed policemen deployed on law and order duty, in which some police personnel, including the Town DSP-2, sustained injuries,” a statement from the SSP’s office said.
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Police said repeated efforts were made to persuade the crowd, but “the mob became uncontrollable and aggressive”, after which “mild force was used in a restrained and controlled manner” to restore order.
The incident triggered a political storm, with Opposition parties accusing the NDA government in Bihar of suppressing unemployed youth demanding jobs.
Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav targeted the government, alleging that while NDA leaders made their children ministers without an electoral process, unemployed youth demanding recruitment were being “beaten with lathis”. “Before the elections, NDA leaders had promised that TRE-4 vacancies would be released. Even six months after the formation of the government, the notification has not been issued. Instead, youths asking for vacancies are being beaten,” he said in a post on X.
He alleged Bihar’s youth would not forget what he described as the NDA’s “betrayal”.
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Bihar Congress president Rajesh Ram alleged that the police action reflected the “real face” of the BJP-led administration in the state. The Bihar Congress, in social media posts, accused the government of rewarding “their sons with ministerial posts” while “using lathis against youths”.
Newly appointed Education Minister Mithilesh Tiwari sought to reassure the protesting candidates, saying the government would work towards resolving their concerns. “We will sit with department officials and find solutions to the problems. If there is a problem today, the solution should also come today. We will not postpone work for tomorrow,” Tiwari said after taking charge on Friday.
TRE-4 is expected to fill thousands of teaching vacancies across multiple departments in Bihar. Recruitment is proposed in the Education Department, Backward and Extremely Backward Classes Welfare Department, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Welfare Department, and Minority Welfare Department.
The largest share of vacancies is in the Education Department, including 9,082 posts for classes 9 and 10 and 16,774 posts for higher secondary classes 11 and 12. In addition, 10,778 vacancies are expected at the primary level (classes 1 to 5) and 8,583 at the middle school level (classes 6 to 8).
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Another set of figures cited during the protest put the total number of proposed vacancies around 46,000.
Aspirants said the recruitment approval had been granted earlier this year but the official notification was yet to be issued. The examination is expected to be held between September 22 and 27, although the absence of an official advertisement has fuelled uncertainty among candidates.
