RANCHI, May 8 -- The Supreme Court ruled that para-teachers (contractual teachers) in Jharkhand cannot be made permanent automatically. However, the Court ordered the state government to stop the "temporary" culture and follow a strict yearly plan to give these teachers a fair chance at permanent jobs.

A division bench of Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice S.V.N. Bhatti in its order on Thursday said that while these teachers have worked for many years, they cannot bypass the official hiring rules. The Court explained that since these teachers were hired under a specific scheme (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan), they don't have a legal right to jump straight into permanent government roles.

The judges were critical of how the government keeps teach...