77 days and counting: Haryana guest teachers intensify agitation seeking regularization of employment

Guest teachers in Haryana’s government schools have stepped up their agitation seeking regularization of religious services, with their Kurukshetra protest entering its 77th day on Monday.

The teachers are demanding the implementation of the state government’s regularization policies of 2014, citing recent Supreme Court and Punjab and Haryana High Court judgments that they say have strengthened their claim for regularization.

The teachers staged a protest outside the secretariat in Kurukshetra, which is the home town of Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini. According to the Rajkiya Anubandhit Adhyapak Sangh, which is spearheading the protest, two teachers are sitting every day in a 24-hour rotation.

“We won the case in the High Court and the Supreme Court. The government went to the Division Bench (High Court) against the Single Bench (High Court) judgment, but that too was dismissed. As far as I understand, the government has no legal option,” Dinesh Yadav, state president of the association, told The Hindu.

However, the government has not yet started the regularization process. Mr. Yadav said a delegation of teachers had met the Education Minister, Additional Chief Secretary and other senior officials, but no concrete assurance had been given so far.

Bhupinder Singh, state general secretary of the association, said that around 12,000 guest teachers are working on contractual basis against sanctioned posts in government schools and that nearly 55% of them are women.

Appointed between 2005 and 2008, the teachers serve as primary school teachers, trained postgraduate teachers and postgraduate teachers.

Two principles

At the center of the dispute are two regularization policies — a three-year policy and a 10-year policy — framed during the Congress regime in 2014. According to the association, the teachers have fulfilled all the conditions prescribed under the three-year policy but have not been regularised. However, visiting college teachers covered by the same policy were later given regular status.

Mr. Singh argued that the regularization process could not be completed as the model code of conduct came into effect before the 2014 assembly elections, when the BJP first came to power in the state.

The association also sought to link its demand with the BJP’s election manifesto of 2014. Mr. Singh said the party had promised to regularize guest teachers appointed in 2005-06 and clear arrears from the date of appointment. He also recalled the then BJP state president Ram Bilas Sharma’s statement that if the party came to power, the issue would be taken up in the first cabinet meeting.

Several rounds of litigation

The teachers’ case went through several rounds of litigation. After coming to power, the BJP government shelved the 2014 regularization policy on 5 May 2015 for revision. The stay was revoked in 2016. The school’s visiting teachers then approached the Supreme Court arguing that they were covered by the policy and that the government had recognized that they were covered by the policy but were not legalized.

Some persons also approached the court through Public Interest Litigation, challenging the validity of the two regularization rules and seeking their cancellation. In 2018, the Punjab and Haryana High Court struck down both policies, saying they were invalid. Those who had already been legalized then appealed to the Supreme Court and obtained a stay, after which the matter remained pending.

The association said the Supreme Court, in its judgment dated April 16 this year, upheld the validity of the three-year policy and canceled the 10-year policy. The teachers subsequently approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking the implementation of the policy.

The association also cited the May 27 High Court judgment as a key development. He said the court had ordered eligible guest teachers to be regularized under the 2014 policy within two months and criticized the extended continuation of teachers with irregular status.

The teachers have since intensified their agitation, including a gherao at the Chief Minister’s residence in Kurukshetra on Sunday. They also submitted their memoranda to the MLA seeking their support. The opposition raised the issue in the assembly during the monsoon session.

Their demand now focuses on the implementation of court orders rather than any new policy. “Our demand is simple: the decisions of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court should be implemented by the government,” Mr. Singh said.

In its memorandum, the association has urged the government to immediately start the regularization process, arguing that the teachers have remained in service for nearly two decades and fulfilled the obligations of the sanctioned posts.

Another major disadvantage of visiting teachers remains the long-standing disparity in remuneration. Mr. Singh said he has been working for about 20 years and currently gets ₹45,300 a month, while a regular teacher with a similar length of service earns about ₹1.25 lakh.

“Huge cost of arrears”

Meanwhile, state government sources said the huge cost of the 12-year arrears and the fact that guest teachers were recruited on the basis of merit at the village level, rather than through state-wide competitive exams, prevented their regularization despite court orders.

The protesting teachers are scheduled to meet with government representatives for negotiations on Tuesday. A larger meeting of several groups, including the Samyukt Kisan Morcha and municipal bodies, is also planned for September 13, Mr. Yadav said.

Published – 8 Sep 2026 0:50 AM IST