Amid scathing criticism from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on Sunday temporarily halted the transfer of at least 5,000 government school teachers.

The decision by the Lieutenant Governor came following a meeting with a delegation of the Government School Teachers Association (GSTA) on Sunday at Raj Niwas, his office said in a post on X (formerly Twitter). In another post from the Lieutenant Governor’s official account, it was underlined that he directed Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar and the Directorate of Education (DoE) “to take a sympathetic, holistic & fair view into the recent transfer orders pertaining to teachers (sic).” The mass transfer order was termed an “unfortunate decision” by the L-G at the meeting, the GSTA said.

Delhi Education Minister Atishi said the move of “withdrawal of the transfer order” was a “win amid our struggle”. In a video message, she said, “On July 2, the BJP supported by the L-G issued the transfer order, in violation of my orders to halt it… and had to finally withdraw the transfer because the AAP, along with the people of Delhi, stopped it from exercising its agenda.”