Transfers Shut, But CM Holds the Key: Blanket Ban on Teacher Transfers Raises Eyebrows
Shimla, June 4: In a move aimed at maintaining academic continuity, the state government has slapped a blanket ban on the transfer of teaching staff in all government schools and colleges from June 5, 2025 until the end of the 2025-26 academic session.
But the story doesn’t end there. As per the official notification, only the Chief Minister now holds the power to allow any exception — a clause that speaks volumes about how the system continues to centralize control under the garb of “academic discipline.”
While the ban is being justified in the name of students' welfare, teachers’ unions and critics are questioning the selective crackdown.
“Why only teachers? Are they not government employees like others — engineers, clerks, or police personnel — who continue to enjoy transfer options?
Why is their right to movement being crushed year after year?” asked a senior lecturer in a government college.
The critics argue that this repeated muzzling of teachers' fundamental service rights, without applying the same standards to other government departments, reeks of discrimination and administrative high-handedness.
“There’s always this assumption that teachers are to blame for learning gaps, so keep them chained to one post, regardless of their personal, medical, or family issues.
But no such morality is imposed on other babus,” said a spokesperson of a prominent teachers' association.
Also, the so-called “exception route” through the Chief Minister’s nod has become a hotbed of lobbying and favoritism, they allege.
"Those with connections get their way, and those who follow the rules suffer silently."
While the government’s aim to ensure a smooth academic session is understandable, many feel that a transparent, time-bound, and grievance-based transfer policy would be far more effective than sweeping bans that push genuine cases into political corridors.
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