Bihar research scholars to march on Raj Bhavan over teacher recruitment rules
Bihar PhD scholars and students will march on Raj Bhavan on Aug 22, pressing for withdrawal of new assistant professor recruitment rules and other demands.
Student groups in Bihar have announced a march to Raj Bhavan on August 22 in support of PhD scholars and researchers who have been protesting for 17 days against proposed changes to assistant professor recruitment rules. The demonstration is part of a broader agitation over the rollback of the two-tier Teacher Recruitment Examination-4 (TRE-4).
Kumud Patel, convener of the All PhD Holders and Research Scholars Association of Bihar, said the march will begin from Veer Kunwar Singh Park at R-Block and proceed peacefully to Lok Bhawan, where protesters plan to encircle the building. She said research scholars, guest teachers, and students from universities and colleges across the state are expected to gather in Patna in large numbers.
This will be the second such march call within a week. On Wednesday, Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav led a student protest demanding accountability over the use of an AK-47 during a July 25 agitation against the NEET paper leak in Siwan. He also backed the demand for a single-tier TRE-4, for which applications for 32,388 vacancies are being invited from September 1.
The protesting scholars have put forward a six-point charter of demands. Chief among them is the implementation of UGC Regulation 2018, Table 3A, in assistant professor recruitment. This framework evaluates candidates on a 100-point scale across academic and professional achievements, rather than relying solely on written tests or arbitrary screening.
Other demands include raising the maximum age limit for assistant professor appointments from 43 to 55 years, making such recruitment permanent and regular, implementing a domicile policy, halting interference in university autonomy, and regularising guest assistant professors who have served for years until the age of 65 before regular appointments are made.
Student leader Dilip Kumar said the movement now extends beyond the TRE-4 rollback to include filling long-pending vacancies across departments. Separate groups are also pressing for immediate recruitment of librarians and music teachers in schools and colleges.
The designated protest site at Gardanibagh, less than a kilometre from the Bihar Assembly, has become a convergence point for multiple student groups raising these varied demands.