Striking teachers disrupt rail, road traffic in Bihar

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Contractual school teachers, who have been agitating for a week, on Wednesday burnt tyres on the roads and squatted on railway tracks affecting rail and road traffic. However, apart from traffic, normal life remained more or less unaffected in Bihar, police said.

"At Sheikhpura and Nawada railway stations, striking teachers squatted on railway tracks," said officials.

Hundreds of slogan-shouting striking teachers stopped trains at various railway stations, including Sheikhpura, Hajipur, Nawada and Darbhanga. The demonstrators also burnt tyres on the streets of Patna to express their anger against the Nitish Kumar government.

Most shops, business establishments and educational institutions were however open in several parts of Patna and other districts.

The strike started on April 9 after talks with the education minister were cancelled due to chaos at the meeting venue on April 8.

Seven days after 2.5 lakh contractual school teachers began the indefinite strike and locked up hundreds of schools demanding pay at par with regular teachers, they are now split into four groups.

While one group spearheaded the stir on Wednesday, two groups want to seek time from the education minister to hold talks to end the impasse.

Last week, the state government warned the teachers of action and announced a 'no work, no pay' policy.