The issue was raised jointly by five Congress MLAs - Kaul Singh Thakur, Virender Gautam, Gangu Ram Musafir, Kuldeep Kumar and Raghu Raj - during the question hour. As the concerned minister, Karan Singh, was not present in the House, the reply was given by Education Minister I. D. Dhiman.

Raising the question, Kaul Singh Thakur said the procedure adopted to appoint Vidya Upasaks in primary schools was not appropriate. The Congress MLAs demanded that the Vidya Upasaks be appointed locally and on the same pattern as the Voluntary Teachers were recruited earlier.

They questioned the propriety of the government in appointing candidates with 45 per cent marks in matriculation examination as Vidya Upasaks. They accused the government of adopting this policy in order to adjust their favourites by involving the State Subordinate Services Selection Board in the appointments.

The Education Minister clarified that the Vidya Upasaks would be initially recruited for a period of one year and their services would be extended only after evaluating their performance. He said that they would be given an honorarium of Rs 2,500 per month for 10 months in a year. The Minister said the regularisation of Vidya Upasaks was subject to the condition that they would improve their educational qualifications up to the level of Plus Two, as per the National Council of Teachers' Education (NCTE) norms, within a period of five years after their appointments.

Replying to a supplementary question, the Minister said that those called for interview and written test by the Subordinate Services Selection Board would not be given any travelling or lodging expenses.

The Minister said that the selected candidates would have to attend the one year condensed teachers' training course and appear in the written examination thereafter. In case a candidate fails to clear the examination, his or her services would be terminated.

In reply to another question the Education Minister said that 419 contract-based Junior Basic Teachers (JBT) had been appointed during the last one year and that no teacher had been transferred.

To a supplementary question by Harsh Wardhan, the Minister said the government had taken prompt action and suspended a district education officer and a clerk allegedly involved in transfer scandal.

The government was also attacked on the issue of part-time chowkidars working in the Forest department. Opposition member Tulsi Ram demanded that their services be regularised. Harsh Mahajan said that there were chowkidars who had been working in the department for more than 15 years and their services still not regularised. CLP leader Virbhadra Singh and senior Congress leader J. B. L. Khachi urged the government to consider the case of chowkidars sympathetically and not pass the buck by saying that the previous government had also neglected their case.

However, Forest Minister Roop Singh Thakur did not give any categorical assurance and said that there was no policy to regularise the services of part-time chowkidars.