PIL in Delhi HC, seeks cap on teacher deployment for BLO duties, challenges large-scale requisition during school hours
New Delhi, July 22
A Public Interest Litigation has been filed before the Delhi High Court seeking directions to quash orders requisitioning government and municipal school teachers for Booth Level Officer and Special Intensive Revision duties to the extent that they deploy more than 10 per cent of the regular teachers of any school or require teachers to perform election-related work during school hours.
The petition has been filed by advocates Rajesh Kumar Gogna and Ashok Agarwal.
The petition also seeks directions to the Election Commission of India and other authorities to ensure that the requisition of teachers is carried out in a manner that does not disrupt classroom teaching and that election duties are assigned by first utilising the large pool of non-teaching staff available under Section 159 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
It further seeks appropriate safeguards to protect the education and safety of children studying in government and municipal schools in Delhi.
According to the PIL, lakhs of students studying in government, municipal and government-aided schools are being adversely affected because their teachers have been deployed in large numbers as BLOs and for SIR work, while private unaided schools have not been similarly affected.
The petition contends that in several schools the entire regular teaching staff has been withdrawn during teaching hours, leaving classes to guest teachers or teachers of unrelated subjects.
The petition argues that such deployment violates Articles 14, 21 and 21A of the Constitution and is contrary to the Supreme Court's judgment in Election Commission of India v. St. Mary's School (2008), which held that election work should ordinarily be assigned to teaching staff during holidays or non-teaching days so that classroom education is not disrupted.
It also alleges violation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, particularly the provisions relating to maintenance of the prescribed pupil-teacher ratio and restrictions on deployment of teachers for non-educational work.
Referring to specific instances, the petition states that an order dated July 14, 2026 issued by the Electoral Registration Officer for Ambedkar Nagar Assembly Constituency requisitioned 149 teachers drawn from around 15 government schools, including entire subject faculties in several schools, for BLO duties.
It further relies on a media report stating that all regular teachers in two Delhi government schools had been deployed for SIR work, severely affecting classroom teaching.
The PIL also places reliance on representations made by the Vice and Principals' Association of Delhi and by the petitioners, claiming that despite requests for rationalisation of teacher deployment, no remedial action has been taken by the authorities.
— ANI
Reader Comments
As a teacher myself, I can tell you this is a huge problem. We are forced to do BLO work during school hours, and then we have to rush back to teach after the duty. The quality of our teaching suffers, and students notice. The Supreme Court itself said election work should be during holidays. Why is no one listening? 😠
I moved to India from the UK for work, and this is shocking to see. In UK schools, teachers are strictly for teaching. Election duties are handled by trained volunteers or government staff. The idea of pulling 149 teachers from 15 schools is absurd. How can the Election Commission justify this?
This is a classic case of the government ignoring its own laws. The RTE Act clearly says teachers should not be deployed for non-educational work. And the Supreme Court judgment is crystal clear. But what do they do? They put entire subject faculties on election duty! My younger brother's school had only guest teachers for a week. It's a scandal! 😡
I appreciate the PIL but we need to be practical. Elections are a massive logistical exercise in India. Teachers are educated and available. But the solution is not to pull them during school time. Why can't the Election Commission train a separate pool of volunteers for this work? Or use retired government employees? There are many alternatives. The court should set a strict deadline for the government to act.
The fact that private unaided schools are exempt while government schools are targeted is deeply unfair. It creates a two-tier education system. If elections are
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