The District Primary School Council (DPSC) in Cooch Behar is distributing identity cards to all primary school teachers in the district on Friday, as teachers working in schools near the India-Bangladesh border are often questioned by Border Security Force (BSF) personnel.
Rajat Barman, the DPSC chairman, officially launched the project at the DPSC office conference hall on Friday. He handed out identity cards to several teachers, including those from border areas.
A source in DPSC said the district has 1,852 primary schools where more than 6,500 teachers are currently employed.
“All the teachers working in 1,852 primary schools of the district will receive identity cards. The council aims to complete the distribution by the end of March through the sub-inspectors (SI) of schools posted in different circles,” said Barman.
Many primary schools in Cooch Behar are close to the India–Bangladesh border, some within just 100 metres of the barbed-wire fencing.
Teachers frequently had to identify themselves to on-duty BSF personnel while travelling to school. The absence of official identity cards creates difficulties.
Abdul Faruk, the headmaster of Kharija Haridas Fifth Plan Primary School near the border in Dinhata's Gitaldah, said teachers had been demanding identity cards.
“The BSF personnel frequently change at the border, and the new personnel often ask for identity verification. Now that the problem will be solved,” he said.
Flora Das, the sub-inspector of schools of the Dinhata West circle, said that there are 63 schools in her circle and around 30 to 40 per cent are in border areas.
Mustafa Khandakar, the headmaster of Ratinandan Special Cadre Primary School, which is also near the border, welcomed the move.
“It will largely help the teachers from being questioned and harassed by the BSF,” he said.
Biswajit Hasda, a teacher from Cooch Behar town, noted that while many government employees, such as police personnel, have identity cards, primary school teachers in the district did not until now.
“This initiative will benefit teachers across the district — from border areas to towns and remote villages,” he said.