What Delhi teacher suspended after sharing WhatsApp video amid row over stray dog issue said in clip

The order was issued last month. (File Photo)

“Assigning teachers to keep records of stray dogs is not appropriate,” Sant Ram, a trained graduate teacher (Hindi) posted at Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya (SBV) in West Delhi’s Subhash Nagar, is heard saying in a video that he posted on a WhatsApp group for teachers earlier this week. “Whenever the nation has needed us… whether during an emergency or during the COVID-19 pandemic… we have served. But I never imagined that teachers in Delhi would be used for such tasks,” the government school teacher further says in the clip, adding that such tasks, with exams round the corner, “doesn’t align with the position or dignity” of the teachers.

On December 31, Sant Ram was suspended by the Directorate of Education’s (DoE) Vigilance Branch. The suspension order invokes Rule 10(1) of the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965, and states that “a disciplinary proceeding… is contemplated” against him, without specifying the charges or reasons.

His suspension came amid a controversy over a directive issued by the DoE on December 5 to educational institutions, including government and private schools, offices and stadiums in the city to nominate a nodal officer to cater to issues related to stray dogs. The directive was issued in compliance with Supreme Court directions on campus safety. Simultaneously, letters were sent to civic and land-owning agencies, including the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), Delhi Cantonment Board (DCB), Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Delhi Development Authority (DDA), to implement safety measures within their jurisdiction.

After the circular was published, however, speculation arose if the school teachers would be deployed to count stray dogs. In response, the DoE issued a press note on December 29, clarifying that no specific duties have been assigned to teachers, countering misinformation circulating in sections of the print media. The row, however, did not end there. Later, the Delhi Police’s Cyber Cell registered an FIR following a complaint filed by the DoE regarding an alleged “false, misleading, and malicious” post claiming that “teachers will count stray dogs”. This also led to political sparring between the ruling BJP and the AAP.

Sant Ram’s video, he told The Indian Express on Saturday, was posted in response to a report about the role of teachers in managing stray dogs at government schools and a directive issued by the Deputy Director of Education (North West). He said he did not intend to take a political stance but wanted to spread information.

In the video, Sant Ram can be heard saying that it came to his notice that teachers were being assigned duties linked to stray dog-related work. Claiming that an order and a list was circulated in the North West district, he said teachers had been designated as nodal officers for three zones and that 118 teachers had been named overall. Calling the situation “thought-provoking and condemnable”, he added, “For the sake of the children, let us focus on teaching in our schools.”

In the circular dated December 16 by the Education department of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s Keshav Puram Zone, which Sant Ram referred to, instructions were issued to heads of schools to nominate a nodal officer, ensure school gates remain closed during working hours, prevent the entry of stray dogs through guards and chowkidars, conduct awareness sessions on animal behaviour and first aid, and maintain records of related activities and incidents. The responsibility for compliance was pinned on the heads of schools. Around the same time, however, several social media posts and some media reports claimed that teachers had been directed to “count” stray dogs.

The Delhi government has underlined this interpretation was false and misleading. Subsequently, the DoE filed a complaint, and the Delhi Police registered an FIR against unknown persons for allegedly spreading misinformation through social media and other platforms.

At a press conference on Friday, Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood said the government had decided to act against what it described as a deliberate campaign of misinformation. He maintained that the circular contained no instruction to count dogs and that the appointment of nodal officers was solely to ensure campus safety and coordination with civic authorities. The Minister did not refer specifically to Sant Ram’s video, but said strict legal action was being taken against those spreading false narratives. According to the government, responsibility for preventing the entry of stray dogs rests with security staff, while nodal officers are meant to oversee compliance and report incidents.

Political reactions followed, with senior leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), including Saurabh Bharadwaj, accusing the BJP-led Delhi government of targeting a teacher for speaking out, while the government accused AAP leaders of politicising a safety-related directive.

Even as the suspension order does not link Sant Ram’s action to the FIR or the subsequent political controversy, the teachers’ community was quick to distance itself after the suspension order was issued. A source from a body representing government school teachers told The Indian Express that the issue has been politicised and “a government servant should not be involved in taking any political side, and spreading misinformation is against the teacher fraternity.”