Delhi Lieutenant Governor Halts Mass Transfer Of 5,000 Teachers Amid AAP Criticism

Facing intense criticism from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena temporarily halted the transfer of over 5,000 government school teachers on Sunday.

This decision followed a meeting with a delegation from the Government School Teachers Association (GSTA) at Raj Niwas, as stated in a post on X (formerly Twitter). Another post from the Lieutenant Governor’s official account noted that he instructed Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar and the Directorate of Education (DoE) “to take a sympathetic, holistic & fair view into the recent transfer orders concerning teachers.” The L-G termed the mass transfer order as an “unfortunate decision” during the meeting, according to the GSTA.

Meanwhile, a political clash continued on Sunday with the AAP and BJP at odds.

Delhi Education Minister Atishi hailed the “withdrawal of the transfer order” as a “win amid our struggle.” In a video message, she remarked, “On July 2, the BJP, supported by the L-G, issued the transfer order, disregarding my directives to halt it… but had to eventually withdraw the transfer due to the AAP and the people of Delhi resisting its agenda.”

On Thursday, the Minister had called on the Lieutenant Governor to rescind the order, labeling it a “mindless act.” She had initially paused the transfer of government school teachers on July 1. However, after the midnight mass transfer, she instructed the Chief Secretary to initiate disciplinary actions against the officers who “wilfully defied” her directive to the Education Department.

Targeting the ruling party, BJP leader Arvinder Singh Lovely claimed on Sunday that the teachers association approached him, asserting the issue was being “politicised.”

The GSTA members were accompanied on Sunday by four BJP MPs – Manoj Tiwari, Kamaljeet Sehrawat, Yogender Chandoliya, Bansuri Swaraj, and former education minister and party leader Arvinder Singh Lovely, according to the L-G’s Office.

GSTA general secretary Ajay Veer Yadav, who led the delegation in the meeting with the L-G, said, “All the affected government teachers are relieved by the decision… We were pleased to see the L-G show empathy towards us. Most importantly, he emphasized that teachers cannot perform their duties under pressure.”

The GSTA quoted the L-G saying, “Transferring such a large number of teachers is equivalent to humiliating them. This is an unfortunate decision.”