Years of Low-Paid Contract Teaching in Girls’ Residential Schools Amounts to Forced Labour, Rules Allahabad High Court

Years of Low-Paid Contract Teaching in Girls’ Residential Schools Amounts to Forced Labour, Rules Allahabad High Court in Archana Boodh v. State of U.P.

Case: Smt. Archana Boodh v. State of U.P. and Others
Date of Judgment: 29 October 2026
Court: Allahabad High Court (Lucknow Bench)
Coram: Justice Pankaj Bhatia
Proceedings: Writ-A No. 7335 of 2026, with connected Writ-A Nos. 8381 and 9015 of 2026

Court Observation

“This is a clear discrimination against the disadvantaged students studying in KGBVs.”

Summary

The Allahabad High Court has held that keeping teachers of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) on contractual terms for years, on an honorarium even lower than that prescribed for semi-skilled workers and without any step towards regularisation, amounts to forced labour prohibited by Article 23 of the Constitution. The Court described calling the payment an honorarium as a cruel joke.

Allowing petitions filed by Archana Boodh and others, the Court directed the Uttar Pradesh government to sanction or create posts for KGBV teachers within four months and to bring their service conditions at par with those of regular teachers. Until then, all teachers working in KGBVs across Uttar Pradesh must be paid a monthly honorarium of Rs 17,000 with effect from the date of the judgment.

Key Holdings

  • Continued contractual engagement of KGBV teachers for years on inadequate remuneration, without job security, is nothing but a form of forced labour prohibited by Article 23 of the Constitution.
  • The practice violates Article 14 as well, since no material showed that the petitioners’ duties differ from those of regular State teachers.
  • KGBVs are schools under Section 2(n) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, and the State is bound under Section 8(d) of that Act to provide teaching staff.
  • The plea of no sanctioned posts was rejected: the scheme has run for over two decades, the work is perennial, and the absence of posts cannot justify continued insecure engagement.

Directions Issued

  • The State government must, within four months, sanction or create posts of teachers for KGBVs in line with the Schedule to the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act.
  • The State must frame service conditions for KGBV teachers at par with regular teachers up to the Intermediate level.
  • The State must consider the claims of the petitioners and other similarly placed teachers for regularisation in accordance with law, taking into account their educational qualifications and length of service.
  • Until those steps are taken, every teacher working in a KGBV in Uttar Pradesh, including the petitioners, must be paid Rs 17,000 per month from the date of the judgment.
  • KGBV teachers must be extended service-related protection under Section 24(2) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.

Background

The Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya scheme, launched in 2004, provides residential schooling to girls from disadvantaged and marginalised communities. The petitioners, including 377 teachers in one of the three connected petitions, work as full-time or part-time contractual teachers in these schools, many since 2009 or 2010, on contracts renewed year after year. They pointed to a Government Order of 9 April 2026 raising the honorarium of part-time teachers in State schools from Rs 9,000 to Rs 17,000, and argued that their insecurity of tenure compromises the quality of education under Article 21-A.

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Disclaimer: This is a summary prepared for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Readers should refer to the official judgment for the authoritative text.

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