Patna, July 16 : After the directive of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Education Minister Sunil Kumar, on Wednesday, confirmed that the Bihar Public Service Commission's (BPSC) Teacher Recruitment Examination (TRE) 4.0 will be held before the upcoming state Assembly elections.

"We have called an important meeting today and are moving the recruitment process forward with full preparation," he said.

Earlier, the Chief Minister had directed the Education Department to speed up the recruitment of government teachers by conducting the TRE 4.0 examination soon.

He also instructed officials to immediately calculate teacher vacancies in government schools to fast-track appointments.

Minister Sunil Kumar told that a legal opinion is being taken to fully implement the domicile policy in teachers recruitment, ensuring that only residents of Bihar benefit from the recruitment drive.

"So far, about 12 lakh people have been given jobs or employment under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's tenure, and the process is continuing," he added.

The Education Minister also clarified that the 35 per cent reservation for women in teacher recruitment will apply only to women residing in Bihar.

"All necessary instructions have been issued, and the system will be fully implemented," he said.

The move is seen as a significant relief for Bihar's youth ahead of the upcoming state elections and a strong political message to the Opposition, which has been targeting the state government over unemployment.

The Bihar government has previously conducted TRE 1.0, TRE 2.0, and TRE 3.0, leading to large-scale teacher appointments in the state.

Though, domicile policy was not implemented in the earlier examinations.

The Nitish Kumar-led Cabinet on Tuesday had approved the state government's plan to provide one crore jobs and employment opportunities to the youth of the state over the next five years.

The approval of the Labour Resources Department's proposal to provide jobs and employment to one crore youth aligns with Nitish Kumar's pre-poll announcement, which had surprised the Opposition and taken away a major election plank from their poll strategy.

The decision to recruit teachers is part of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's plan to achieve the goal of providing government jobs to the candidates of Bihar ahead of the upcoming state Assembly election.

/IANS