Teachers of government schools in two districts of Bihar have been asked to make rounds of their respective wards and panchayat committee areas to stop people from defecating in the open.

The State government order issued recently for Muzaffarpur and Aurangabad districts — which are to be declared as ODF (open defecation-free) by December 31 — said that teachers should make rounds of their areas in the mornings and evenings and take pictures on their mobiles to shame the offenders. The administration has created committees with four to five teachers in each of these districts to monitor the mission’s progress.

“Teachers are known for their intellect and they could convince people for ODF in a much better way. Since Swachhta Abhiyan is a national mission everybody should take part in it. If teachers are being asked to play their role in it and if it doesn’t hamper their school job, I think there is nothing wrong in it,” State Education Minister Krishnanadan Prasad Verma told reporters.

But teachers in both the districts have expressed their resentment against the government’s decision. “It is an insult to our teaching job,” said Ramnandan Sharma, a school teacher in Aurangabad, over phone.