Guest teachers in Haryana’s government schools have intensified their agitation seeking regularisation of services, with their protest in Kurukshetra entering its 77th day on Monday.
The teachers are demanding implementation of the State government’s regularisation policies framed in 2014, citing recent judgments of the Supreme Court and the Punjab and Haryana High Court which, they say, have strengthened their claim for regularisation.
The teachers have been staging the protest outside the Secretariat in Kurukshetra, which is the home city of Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini. Two teachers sit on 24-hour rotation every day, according to the Rajkiya Anubandhit Adhyapak Sangh, which is spearheading the protest.
“We have won the case in the High Court as well as the Supreme Court. The government had gone before the Division Bench [of the High Court] against the Single Bench judgment [of the High Court], but that too was rejected. As far as I understand, the government has no legal option left,” Dinesh Yadav, State president of the association, told The Hindu.
The government, however, has not yet initiated the process of regularisation. Mr. Yadav said a delegation of teachers had met the Education Minister, the Additional Chief Secretary and other senior officials, but no concrete assurance has been given so far.
Bhupinder Singh, State general secretary of the association, said around 12,000 guest teachers are working on a contractual basis against sanctioned posts in government schools, and that nearly 55% of them are women.
The teachers, appointed between 2005 and 2008, are working as Junior Basic Teachers, Trained Graduate Teachers, and Post Graduate Teachers.
Two policies
At the centre of the dispute are two regularisation policies — a three-year policy and a 10-year policy — framed during the Congress regime in 2014. According to the association, the teachers had fulfilled all conditions prescribed under the three-year policy but were not regularised. However, guest college teachers covered by the same policy were later given regular status, it said.
Mr. Singh claimed that the process of regularisation could not be completed as the model code of conduct came into force in the run-up to the Assembly election in 2014, which saw the BJP come to power for the first time in the State.
The association has also sought to link its demand to the BJP’s 2014 election manifesto. Mr. Singh said the party had promised to regularise guest teachers appointed in 2005-06 and clear arrears from the date of appointment. He also recalled a statement by the then BJP State president Ram Bilas Sharma that the issue would be taken up in the first Cabinet meeting if the party came to power.
Several rounds of litigation
The teachers’ case has gone through several rounds of litigation. After the BJP government came to power, it put the 2014 regularisation policy on hold on May 5, 2015, for a review. The stay was lifted in 2016. School guest teachers then approached the High Court, arguing that they were covered under the policy and that the government had acknowledged that the policy applied to them, but they were not regularised.
Some persons also approached the court through a public interest litigation, challenging the validity of the two regularisation policies and seeking their quashing. In 2018, the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed both policies, holding that they were not valid. Those who had already been regularised then approached the Supreme Court and obtained a stay, following 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 while quashing the 10-year policy. The teachers subsequently approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking implementation of the policy.
The association also cited the High Court’s judgment dated May 27 as a key development. It said the court directed that eligible guest teachers be regularised under the 2014 policy within two months and criticised the prolonged continuation of teachers with an irregular status.
The teachers have since stepped up their agitation, including gheraoing the Chief Minister’s residence in Kurukshetra on Sunday. They also submitted their memoranda to MLAs seeking their support. The Opposition had raised the issue in the Assembly during the Monsoon Session.
Their demand is now focused on implementation of the court orders rather than any fresh policy. “Our demand is simple: the Supreme Court and High Court decisions should be implemented by the government,” Mr. Singh said.
The association, in its memorandum, has urged the government to begin the regularisation process immediately, arguing that the teachers have remained in service for nearly two decades while performing duties against sanctioned posts.
The long-standing disparity in pay remains another major grievance of the guest teachers. Mr. Singh said he has been working for about 20 years and currently receives ₹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 12 years’ arrears and the fact that the guest teachers were recruited on the basis of village-level merit, rather than through Statewide competitive examinations, were preventing their regularisation despite the court orders.
The protesting teachers are scheduled to meet government representatives for talks on Tuesday. A larger meeting involving several groups, including the Samyukt Kisan Morcha and municipal bodies, has also been planned for September 13, Mr. Yadav said.
Published – September 08, 2026 12:50 am IST
