The Assam Legislative Assembly cut short its budget session and passed a number of bills on Tuesday, including the one banning teachers’ transfers before completion of 10 years in service.

The budget session was to continue till March 30, but an all-party meeting on Monday decided to end it on Tuesday, the day the state went into lockdown in view of global novel coronavirus outbreak.

The bills, which were passed on Tuesday, were the Court Fees (Assam Amendment) Bill 2020, the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill 2020, the Assamese Language Learning Bill 2020, The Assam Elementary and Secondary School Teachers (Regulation of Posting and Transfer) Bill 2020 and the Assam Non Government Educational Institutions (Regulation of Fees) (Amendment) Bill 2020.

As the budget session was cut short and considering the emergency related to coronavirus, the Opposition also avoided going for discussion and debates on the bills and bringing in amendments.

The bills were passed using discretionary power of the Speaker.

The government also introduced three more bills — the Moran Autonomous Council Bill 2020, the Matak Autonomous Council Bill 2020 and the Kamtapur Autonomous Council Bill 2020.

Education minister Hima-nta Biswa Sarma said the Assam Elementary and Secondary School Teachers (Regulation of Posting and Transfer) Bill 2020 had banned transferring teachers before completion of 10 years in service.

“The district or block education officers who will recommend transfer violating the Act will now will be jailed for a year,” he said.

He added that the MLAs who would recommend for such transfer would not be jailed as their recommendations are “unofficial”.

Sarma had earlier told the Assembly that even the MLAs would have to face punishment for such recommendations. The Congress’s Rakibul Hussain, however, urged the government to consider if other measures like suspension can be adopted in case of guilty officials instead of sending them behind bars.