West Bengal bars new teachers from contesting elections

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. File

Newly appointed teachers in State government-run and government-aided schools will no longer be able to engage in politics directly and contest elections in West Bengal. This decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday (October 28, 2026).

“We have made a very important decision. In other States, government teachers cannot directly participate in politics. The West Bengal government took a historic decision in the Cabinet. From today onwards, all the new teachers who will be appointed through the School Service Commission will not be able to participate in any direct politics,” the Chief Minister said.

Mr. Adhikari, however, clarified that the Cabinet decision would not affect teachers working at present and were involved in politics or had been elected as public representatives. Five current Ministers, including School Education Minister Dipak Barman, have been teachers before switching to active politics.

The move, aimed to improve quality of education in the State-run and aided schools, has sparked criticism from several teachers’ associations. Representatives of several teachers’ associations pointed out that in other States teachers are given status of government employees, which is not the case in West Bengal, therefore teachers cannot be asked not to engage in active politics.

“The Chief Minister gave examples from other States. But since teachers and education workers from other States are given the status of government employees in these States, they cannot engage in politics. The government cannot keep teachers and education workers from our State away from politics because they are not government employees,” said Swapan Mandal, general secretary of the Bengal Teachers and Education Workers Association. Chandan Maiti, general secretary of Advanced Society for Headmasters Association, also voiced similar concerns and urged the State government to reconsider the decision.

“Taking away the right of teachers to stand for election means keeping away those who are called the backbone of society. Let the government give teachers the status of government employees,” Mr. Maiti said.

Leaders from the Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) also criticised the decision curtailing rights of teachers. Not only teachers have been elected as MLAs and MPs in the State, but the majority of elected representatives of three tier-panchayat structure in the State are teachers.

“This unilateral decision of the State government is in no way acceptable. If this initiative is implemented, it will definitely face legal challenges in the courts,” senior Congress leader Pradip Bhattacharya said.

CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty raised questions on the poor teacher-student ratio in government schools. “In schools, the overall quality of infrastructure needs to be improved. It is also necessary to protect democracy in the school management. The main job of those who are in the teaching profession is to teach in schools. However, they are being used to do ‘non-teaching work’ like SIR or census. The government should pay attention to that instead,” Mr. Chakraborty said.

state politics / politics / Communist Party of India -Marxist / Indian National Congress / Bharatiya Janata Party / ministers (government) / teachers