Contractual teachers'' demands to be included in LJP''s

LJP national president Chirag Paswan has said that demands of contractual teachers of the government schools in Bihar, who have been on an indefinite strike since February 17, will be included in the party's manifesto for the upcoming assembly elections due later this year.

Around 4.5 lakh contractual teachers of the government schools have been observing the strike with their eight-point charter of demands --'equal pay for equal work' being the primary one.

"I completely agree with you and will not only give this (charter of demands) to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar but also include in our party's manifesto," Paswan said after meeting with a group of protesting teachers in Sheohar.

He was in Sheohar on Saturday as a part of his "Bihar First, Bihari First" yatra.

With the promise of pulling the state out of its long history of backwardness, the party chief, who recently took the mantle from his father and LJP founder Ram Vilas Paswan, had launched the programme on Friday. His state-wide 'yatra' will culminate in a rally at Gandhi Maidan here on April 14.

However, the state government has threatened to take stern action against those participating in the strike.

Education minister Krishnandan Prasad Verma had condemned the teachers' strike, saying that the government will "not fulfill their demands as it is following the apex court's verdict".

In a setback to the contractual teachers, the Supreme Court, in May last year, had refused to regularise their services and set aside the Patna High Court ruling that they were eligible to get equal pay for equal work.