Patna, The Bihar education department has ordered a comprehensive verification of academic and professional qualifications of thousands of schoolteachers appointed through the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) under the Teacher Recruitment Exercise (TRE) 1, 2, and 3, warning that any individual found to have secured employment using forged or false documents will face immediate termination and recovery of salary paid to date.
In a directive issued by Sajjan R, Director of Secondary Education, all District Education Officers have been instructed to complete the scrutiny of original certificates – including educational qualifications, teacher-training credentials, and experience documents – within one month.
The move comes amid growing concerns over irregularities in the multi-phase teacher recruitment drive that has seen over 250,000 appointments since 2023.
Under the Bihar State School Teachers (Appointment, Transfer, Disciplinary Action and Service Conditions) Rules, the appointing authority retains the right to verify documents even after issuance of provisional appointment letters. Where certificates are found to be fabricated or misleading, the department has explicitly reserved the power to cancel the appointment and initiate recovery proceedings for all salaries and allowances drawn.
Such recoveries, the order states, will be effected under the Bihar and Orissa Public Demands Recovery Act, 1914 – a colonial-era law still used by the state for reclaiming public money obtained through misrepresentation.
Officials familiar with the matter said the exercise is intended to restore integrity to one of India’s largest recent public-sector hiring programmes, while also serving as a deterrent against credential fraud. The financial implications could be significant: a mid-level secondary teacher in Bihar draws an annual salary (including allowances) of roughly ₹4.5–6 lakh. With potential recoveries spanning several years of service for affected individuals, the aggregate liability could run into hundreds of crores of rupees.
The department has stopped short of disclosing how many cases of suspected forgery have already surfaced, but sources indicate that complaints and anonymous tip-offs prompted the statewide directive.
The verification drive adds to mounting administrative challenges for the Nitish Kumar government, which has made expansion and reform of school education a flagship priority. The TRE process, conducted through the BPSC for the first time, was intended to fill long-standing vacancies and improve teacher quality, yet it has been dogged by litigation and allegations of irregularities at various stages.
With the one-month deadline expiring at the end of December, the outcome of the exercise is likely to trigger a fresh round of legal battles and could lead to a sizeable number of vacancies re-emerging in Bihar’s already understaffed government schools.
