Bihar Students Announce Indefinite Hunger Strike From August 18 Over TRE 4 Delay, Seek Education Minister’s Resignation

Students preparing for competitive examinations in Bihar have announced an indefinite hunger strike from August 18, demanding the release of the Teacher Recruitment Exam (TRE) 4 notification, greater transparency in government examinations and the resignation of Education Minister Mithilesh Tiwari.

The decision was taken during a meeting of students in Patna on Thursday. Student leader Dilip said he would begin the hunger strike at Gardanibagh on August 18.

The announcement comes amid growing student protests over delays in government recruitment examinations. Students have previously demonstrated at Jantar Mantar and in Jharkhand, while Bihar aspirants have repeatedly demanded the release of the TRE 4 recruitment notification.

Students threaten march to Assembly

Dilip said students would continue their indefinite hunger strike at Gardanibagh if the government fails to address their demands.

He warned that if there is no satisfactory response within five days of the protest beginning, students will march towards the Bihar Legislative Assembly, while the hunger strike will continue at Gardanibagh.

According to the student leader, the delay has caused frustration among aspirants who have been waiting for the TRE 4 recruitment process to begin.

Dilip also alleged that the education minister had earlier assured students that the TRE 4 notification would be released in July. However, August has now begun and the notification is yet to be issued.

Key demands of Bihar students

The students have put forward a list of demands covering teacher recruitment and other competitive examinations. These include:

• Immediate release of the TRE 4 notification and recruitment against all vacant posts.
• Conducting TRE 4 through a single-stage examination.
• Strict implementation of domicile policies.
• Removal of contractual-service weightage in BSSC recruitment.
• Early conduct of the AEDO examination.
• Expedited recruitment of librarians.
• Greater transparency in examinations, including publication of answer keys and providing candidates with carbon copies of their answer sheets.
• Sending the necessary requisition from the Education Department to the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC).

32,388 teacher posts reportedly requisitioned

Meanwhile, reports indicate that the Bihar Education Department has sent a requisition to the BPSC for recruitment to 32,388 teacher posts.

The proposed recruitment includes 3,847 posts for Classes 1 to 5, 8,563 posts for Classes 6 to 8, 3,877 posts for Classes 9 to 10 and 16,101 posts for Classes 11 to 12.

Earlier plans had envisaged recruitment for a different number of vacancies across these categories.

However, students remain concerned that the State Teacher Eligibility Test (STET) is scheduled to be conducted first, potentially pushing the TRE 4 recruitment process further.

The proposed hunger strike is the latest escalation in the students' campaign for clarity on teacher recruitment and broader reforms in Bihar's competitive examination system.