Guwahati, Mar 3 (PTI) The Assam government on Tuesday said it will bring a new legislation to stop transfer of teachers in the first 10 years of service.

Announcing the plan during the Question Hour, Assam Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the bill will be introduced during the later part of the ongoing Budget session of the Assembly.

"We will bring an act to determine transfer of teachers. As part of this Act, there will be 10 years compulsory posting in the district of the appointment and no transfer will take place under any circumstances," he added.

There will be an online system, in which a teacher will apply for transfer after completion of 10 years of service and it will be considered on merit, Sarma informed.

He, however, stated that the case will be treated differently if two teachers go for a mutual transfer to interchange their postings.

"There will be a Teachers Accountability Commission. Anyone violating this act will be punished with three years of imprisonment. The officers who recommend and who approve transfer violating the act, both will go for three years imprisonment," Sarma said.

He further said all those teachers who were transferred in the last three years without completing 10 years in the first place of posting will be sent back to the first place of service once the act is implemented.

"In the last three years, we were pressurised by various links to make transfers, which affected the schools and students. One will evaluate all those transfers. However, the mutual transfers will not be affected," Sarma said.

The minister said that the act will be implemented with retrospective effect, which means, for example a teacher joining service in 2012 and not asking for transfer will be eligible for seeking a transfer to his or her home district in 2022.

"There are many old teachers who do not have any links or do not have other resources to seek a transfer. This act will help them to go back to their home district at the time of retirement," he added.

All the members of the house irrespective of parties welcomed the proposal to introduce the act for streamlining the transfer of teachers, especially those of schools.

Replying to the query by AGP's Ramendra Narayan Kalita, Sarma said a total of 43,004 posts are lying vacant in schools of different types -- lower primary, upper primary high and higher secondary.

The government has advertised 9,635 posts for lower and upper primary schools and the recruitment process is going on, he added.

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