The year is 2022. The Kumar household in Bihar’s Bhagalpur is beaming with joy. Amit Kumar, the eldest son of the family, has secured a government job. He is now a government teacher. The joy is doubled up with its timing – after being unemployed for over two and a half years owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, Amit Kumar cleared the government exam and landed a job as a physical education teacher. Cut to now, he is a food delivery person, doing two jobs, to make ends meet.

Amit Kumar was hired as a part-time teacher for a salary of Rs. 8,000, too little to run a house. Despite being a part-time teacher, Amit worked full-time, motivating children to participate in sports and bring accolades.

“Even after two and a half years, salary remains unchanged. The government is not taking the eligibility test either. Other teachers in the school draw a salary of Rs. 42,000, five times over what I get,” he says.

Amit and other part-time teachers weren’t paid for four months earlier this year. This led to him borrowing money from friends. As the loan amount increased, so did his financial worries.

Following his wife’s advice, Amit decided to register himself as a food delivery person on Zomato, a food delivery app. He adds, “I researched about working as a food delivery person and figured that there are no fixed working hours. I immediately registered myself and began working. Now, I teach in the morning and do a second job of delivery in the evening, from 5 pm to 1 am.”

Earlier Amit used to work for a private school until the COVID-19 pandemic took away his job. In 2019, he appeared for a government exam and secured 74 marks out of 100. After a long wait, in 2022, he landed the job.

“With Rs. 8,000 in hand, I am unable to raise a family. How will I feed my future generation if I cannot feed myself? I have an old mother to look after and therefore, I am forced to do two jobs”, he adds.

The year is 2022. The Kumar household in Bihar’s Bhagalpur is beaming with joy. Amit Kumar, the eldest son of the family, has secured a government job. He is now a government teacher. The joy is doubled up with its timing – after being unemployed for over two and a half years owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, Amit Kumar cleared the government exam and landed a job as a physical education teacher. Cut to now, he is a food delivery person, doing two jobs, to make ends meet.

Amit Kumar was hired as a part-time teacher for a salary of Rs. 8,000, too little to run a house. Despite being a part-time teacher, Amit worked full-time, motivating children to participate in sports and bring accolades.

“Even after two and a half years, salary remains unchanged. The government is not taking the eligibility test either. Other teachers in the school draw a salary of Rs. 42,000, five times over what I get,” he says.

Amit and other part-time teachers weren’t paid for four months earlier this year. This led to him borrowing money from friends. As the loan amount increased, so did his financial worries.

Following his wife’s advice, Amit decided to register himself as a food delivery person on Zomato, a food delivery app. He adds, “I researched about working as a food delivery person and figured that there are no fixed working hours. I immediately registered myself and began working. Now, I teach in the morning and do a second job of delivery in the evening, from 5 pm to 1 am.”

Earlier Amit used to work for a private school until the COVID-19 pandemic took away his job. In 2019, he appeared for a government exam and secured 74 marks out of 100. After a long wait, in 2022, he landed the job.

“With Rs. 8,000 in hand, I am unable to raise a family. How will I feed my future generation if I cannot feed myself? I have an old mother to look after and therefore, I am forced to do two jobs”, he adds.

Arwal (Bihar):

A 12-year-old boy sustained a serious eye injury after being allegedly beaten by his teacher at a school in Bihar’s Arwal district for not completing his homework, police said on Monday.

Police have registered a case against the teacher and the management of the private school in the district’s Umairabad area following a complaint by the victim’s family.

The boy, a class 5 student, is currently undergoing treatment at a hospital in Patna.

Speaking to reporters, victim Amit Raj said, “I sustained a severe injury to my left eye when my teacher started beating me with a stick for not doing my homework on November 13. I told my parents, and they immediately took me to the hospital for treatment.” Family members of the victim said the boy was referred to a Patna hospital for more specialised care. They also claimed that doctors had informed them the eye injury was serious in nature.

Arwal SP Rajendra Kumar Bheelsaid, “Amit’s family members lodged a complaint with police on Sunday against the teacher and the management of the school. A case has been registered for causing injury to the student. The matter is under investigation.” 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A teacher, from Bihar’s Khagaria district, was suspended after a video of him complaining about the school officials who decided to cancel Raksha Bandhan’s holiday went viral.

The teacher, who has been identified as Sunil Kumar, took out his frustration on the department officials after his sister had to travel from Bhagalpur to Khagaria (roughly 90 Km) to tie rakhi.

In a bid to make up for the loss of teaching days, department officials have decided to curtail the number of school holidays on important festivals in the remaining five months of the year.

The incident came to light after a Twitter page of Bihar Shikshak Manch shared a video of Mr Sushil. In the clip, he can be seen criticising the additional chief secretary of the Bihar Education Department KK Pathak as his sister ties a rakhi inside the school premises.

The video was shared on August 31, along with the note that read, “After the cancellation of the Raksha Bandhan holiday of the employed teachers in Bihar, a teacher’s sister reached Mathurapur school in Khagaria from Bhagalpur crying and tied a rakhi to her brother, while the teacher was seen taking out his frustration.”

बिहार में नियोजित शिक्षकों का रक्षाबंधन की छुट्टी रद्द होने के बाद एक शिक्षक की बहन रोती हुई भागलपुर से खगड़िया के मथुरापुर विद्यालय पहुँची अपने भाई को बाँधी राखी,शिक्षक भाई ने निकाली भरास . pic.twitter.com/ZU5QnJlsIl

— बिहार शिक्षक मंच (@btetctet) August 31, 2023

An official order, dated September 1, stated that Mr Kumar has been suspended from his duties. In addition, for making indecent and objectionable statements towards the higher officials, the teacher also faces departmental action. The notice also mentioned that his salary payments would be blocked with immediate effect.

Raksha Bandhan was celebrated on August 30 and 31.