A protest over alleged irregularities in Dhanbad teacher transfers intensified on Thursday after Tundi MLA Mathura Das Mahto joined Nirsa MLA Arup Chatterjee’s hunger strike outside the district deputy commissioner’s office. The agitation has entered its third day, with the legislators demanding action on the distribution of government school teachers between urban and rural areas.
Mahto alleged that rural government schools have fewer teachers in relation to their student strength because teachers have sought postings in urban schools. He and Chatterjee have called for an early meeting of the district elementary education committee to examine the transfer and posting decisions.
Dhanbad has 1,736 government schools and more than 3,000 teachers, according to the report. Mahto also claimed that several teachers had continued in city schools for more than 15 years despite a five-year tenure norm. The allegation has placed the implementation of the district’s posting policy at the centre of the protest.
The immediate administrative action involves 91 teachers whose deputations have been cancelled following Chatterjee’s protest. The teachers have been instructed to return to their parent schools. The move could alter staffing levels at schools that had received deputed teachers and at the rural schools to which they are now expected to return.
Dhanbad deputy commissioner Aditya Ranjan said the action was initiated last month. He added that the decision was notified on November 3. The administration’s statement establishes the timing of the cancellation, while the legislators’ claims about long-term urban postings and unequal teacher availability remain part of the ongoing dispute.
The controversy highlights the administrative challenge of allocating teachers across a district that includes both urban centres and rural schools. Posting decisions affect whether schools have enough teachers for their enrolment, but the supplied report does not provide school-level vacancy figures, student-teacher ratios or the full criteria used for the disputed deputations.
The hunger strike is continuing outside the deputy commissioner’s office. The next formal step sought by the protesting MLAs is an early meeting of the district elementary education committee to address the transfer and posting issue.
