Teachers apprehensive about rollout as govt approves Transfer Policy-2025

In a much-awaited move, the state government has recently approved the Transfer Policy-2025 for government school teachers, introducing reforms aimed at ensuring transparency and flexibility in the posting process. However, teachers remain apprehensive about its implementation and have urged the government to initiate the transfer drive without delay. The concern stems from the fact that no transfers have, as claimed by the teachers, been conducted over the past three years, despite multiple assurances from the government.

The teachers point out that when the state first introduced a transfer policy in 2016, it had promised to conduct the transfer drive annually. Yet, over the past nine years, transfers have been carried out only four times and that too for trained graduate teachers (TGTs) and postgraduate teachers (PGTs) while primary school teachers have been waiting for transfers for around nine years, they add.

Satpal Sindhu, president of the Haryana School Lecturers Association (HSLA), hailed the Cabinet’s approval of the Teacher Transfer Policy, describing it as a positive step but he emphasised that the policy would truly benefit the teachers only when implemented promptly, allowing those who have been waiting for years to finally get some relief.

“In the past nine years, the teachers’ transfers have been conducted only four times in 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2022 whereas, as per the state government’s guidelines, they should have been held at least nine times. Interestingly, the government has also framed transfer policies four times, but notably, no transfers were carried out under the new policy formulated in 2023. These instances clearly show that while framing a policy is easy, executing it remains a major challenge. The government must ensure that the transfer drive is initiated this time,” he added.

Sindhu stated that over one lakh government teachers, including PGTs, TGTs, and PRTs, are closely watching the state government’s next move. “Many of these teachers have been posted at distant locations for several years and are eager to be transferred closer to their homes. Everyone now wants the policy to be implemented without any further delay,” he added.

Dharmendra Yadav, vice-president of the Haryana Primary Teachers Association, said that primary teachers had largely been deprived of the benefits of transfer policies over the past nine years. “They were included in the transfer drive only once, in 2016. Although the transfers were conducted three more times in the past nine years, the primary teachers were excluded from these drives, which has led considerable resentment among them,” he added.

Yadav said it was beyond their understanding why the primary teachers continued to face discrimination in transfers. “If there is a transfer policy, everyone has the right to benefit from it, hence, we urge the government to announce the transfer dates at the earliest and ensure that the primary teachers are included this time,” he added.

Another interesting point, Yadav said, is that the primary teachers are in dire need of transfers. They do not wish to raise objections over any condition of the policy but simply want it to be implemented so that those waiting to move to other schools can get their new postings.

Notably, a group of TGTs has already met Education Minister Mahipal Dhanda, urging him to implement the policy by issuing the schedule for the transfer drive at the earliest. They highlighted that a large number of teachers were affected by non-transfers over the past three years. Women teachers posted at distant locations were particularly impacted, and the group stressed that the government should initiate the transfer process promptly to provide relief to these educators.

As far as new policy is concerned, the concept of zoning has been abolished, allowing the teachers to opt for any school across the state directly, rather than being restricted to predefined zones.

However, the existing provision of additional allowance for the teachers of the Rest of Haryana (RoH) cadre who opt for postings in Nuh district and Hathin and Morni blocks remains unchanged from the 2023 policy. The teachers belonging to the Mewat cadre will continue to serve only within their cadre.

The school allotment will now be determined by a composite score out of 80 points, with age carrying the highest weightage of 60 points. Special categories, including women, women-headed households, widows, widowers, differently abled teachers, those with serious ailments and couple cases will receive up to 20 additional points. A deduction of 10 marks will apply to the teachers facing any major penalty. The teachers dissatisfied with their postings may file representations before the competent authority for redressal.