Anurag Dhanda Questions BJP Over Assigning Teachers Dog Monitoring Work in Haryana

The Haryana government has ordered teachers and university staff to monitor stray dogs, prompting concerns about classroom time, teacher dignity, and broader educational quality amid widespread vacancies.

Teachers in Haryana are facing growing anger over orders assigning dog counting and monitoring duties, similar to recent steps in Delhi. In Kaithal, school staff have started sit-in protests, arguing they were hired to teach children, not track stray dogs and other animals across school premises and nearby areas.

Protesting teachers say that extending this role from schools to universities shows a wider policy shift. They argue that using academic staff for such tasks weakens classroom teaching time and signals an official approach that treats educational institutions more as administrative outposts than focused learning spaces.

Haryana teachers dog duty controversy and AAP’s criticism of BJP government

On this issue, Aam Aadmi Party national media in-charge Anurag Dhanda has sharply criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party government. According to Anurag Dhanda, such decisions indicate that the BJP neither cares about the quality of education nor respects the professional status of teachers working in government institutions.

Anurag Dhanda has also pointed to existing gaps in Haryana’s schooling system. Anurag Dhanda says the education network is already under strain, yet the government is pushing teachers into non-academic assignments. Anurag Dhanda argues this diversion of staff time undermines any serious attempt to repair long-standing weaknesses in public education.

Haryana teachers dog duty orders and official data on schools

Government figures underline the scale of the challenge. Haryana has around 14,000 government schools, while more than 30,000 sanctioned teaching posts remain vacant. Roughly 85 to 90 per cent of these schools have no permanent headmaster, and some campuses run with a single teacher handling between 400 and 500 enrolled students.

Despite these shortages, the Kaithal District Education Officer issued an order on 24 December 2025 appointing a nodal officer in every school to watch stray dogs. Under this direction, teachers must now track, count and report the presence of stray dogs in and around school grounds, alongside existing teaching and administrative duties.

The instruction is not limited to school teachers. At Maharshi Dayanand University in Rohtak, a separate order on 24 December 2025 assigned professors responsibility for monitoring stray dogs within the university campus. Critics say this confirms that teaching centres are being turned into general monitoring units, reducing attention on academic work and research.

Haryana teachers dog duty debate on security staff and recruitment

Anurag Dhanda has questioned why this load is placed on teachers when 70 to 75 per cent of government schools do not have permanent watchmen. In some locations, one guard is allocated to two or three schools, leaving buildings exposed at night and raising worries about property security and student safety.

According to Anurag Dhanda, if the state is genuinely worried about stray dogs and other animals, it should authorise recruitment of separate Pali or animal control staff for every school and college. Anurag Dhanda argues that using trained personnel would handle the problem without dragging teachers away from their core classroom role.

Anurag Dhanda has further said that Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini must clarify whether teachers in Haryana are expected to teach or guard dogs. Anurag Dhanda claims the BJP government has already turned teachers into booth level officers, watchmen, and now dog handlers, damaging the dignity linked with the teaching profession.

Party leaders from the Aam Aadmi Party state that this decision affects not just staff morale but also the learning future of lakhs of children in Haryana. The party has demanded a separate recruitment process for animal-related tasks and an immediate halt to what it calls the ongoing insult of teachers in the state.

Aam Aadmi Party has argued that any approach which treats education as a burden and teachers as forced workers will face resistance from Haryana residents. Critics maintain that revisiting these dog monitoring orders, addressing teacher vacancies and improving support staff levels are essential steps if the government wants to restore trust in public education.