House green signal to education, land bills

PATNA: The state assembly on Monday passed by voice vote two education-related amendment Bills – Bihar State University (Amendment) Bill, 2017 and Patna University (Amendment) Bill, 2017 – which seek to restore teacher status to retired college principals and pave way for appointment of retired Bihar Administrative Services (BAS) officials as university registrars.
The House also passed the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation Resettlement Bill in Taxation and Transparency Rights (Bihar Amendment) Bill, 2017, as a result of which the state government would not have to pay Rs 1,200 crore as compensation to farmers of the Amhara and Bihta areas in Bihta block of Patna district, whose chunks of land had earlier been acquired by the state government for the construction of the new airport and a four-lane road. With the passage of the Bill, the state will now pay only Rs 100 crore, without accruing interest at 12% per annum, to the farmers concerned.
Giving the government’s reply to the amendments moved by BJP members Mithilesh Tiwari and Anil Singh to the two higher education amendment Bills, education minister Ashok Choudhary said only those college teachers who render 15 years of service and comply with other conditions are made college principals. “Their college status remains basically intact. Therefore, restoring their status legally had become a must for their appointment as teachers on contract in future after their retirement to offset the shortage of college teachers. Moreover, their college status was abolished only in 2012,” Choudhary added.
With regard to the amendment made for the appointment of retired BAS officials as the university registrars in place of university/college teachers, he said the move was made in consultation with senior teachers who were of the opinion that the teachers should not be saddled with administrative work.
He said the appointment of retired BAS officials as university registrars is aimed at “implanting administrative skill” in the university administration for specific kind of work which included performing day to day administrative task, as well as the creation of data base. The teacher status has not been accorded to demonstrators posted in science laboratories, he added.
As to the passage of the land acquisition Bill, revenue and land reforms minister Madan Mohan Jha said the state government had paid 80% of the compensation amount after which the land was formally acquired, but 20% of the total compensation or Rs 100 crore remained to be paid.
However, on the plea of the farmers that they be paid compensation as per the new 2013 land acquisition Act, the Patna high court gave the favourable ruling. The same Rs 100 crore amount, along with the interest on it, amounted to Rs 1,200 crore which needed to be paid. With the passage of the amendment Bill, the state government would now pay only Rs 100 crore, Jha said.