‘Their presence in classrooms non-negotiable’: Punjab minister Harjot Singh Bains tells CS to stop deployment of teachers for non-teaching works

In the letter, Bains stated, “Teachers are not just ordinary government employees — they are the torchbearers of knowledge and values, entrusted with the sacred responsibility of shaping the future of Punjab. To pull them out of classrooms and treat them as an easily available ‘tail-end’ workforce for miscellaneous administrative tasks is an injustice not only to them but also to our children, whose Right to Education gets compromised.”

The Education Minister reiterated that Section 27 of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, prohibits deploying teachers for non-educational purposes. Exceptions include specific duties such as decennial population census, disaster relief, and elections to local bodies, State Legislatures or Parliament. “This provision was enacted with great wisdom,” Bains wrote.

While acknowledging that urgent governmental work may sometimes arise, Bains made it clear that teachers cannot be the default option. “Their presence in classrooms is non-negotiable,” he asserted.

Bains has asked the Chief Secretary to issue clear and categorical instructions to all administrative departments and district authorities, mandating that teachers are not to be assigned any non-teaching duty, except those explicitly permitted under Section 27 of the RTE Act, 2009. In any rare and compelling circumstance where deployment is considered unavoidable, prior written approval must be sought and obtained from the Department of School Education before any such deployment.

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