Agartala, January 30: Amid the ongoing visit of the 16th Finance Commission team to Tripura, a group of teacher aspirants who qualified for the Selection Test for Graduate Teachers (STGT) 2022 staged a protest near Chief Minister Manik Saha’s residence in Agartala on Thursday, demanding the recruitment of all qualified candidates at once.
The protestors, who gathered from across the state despite the chilly morning weather, claimed that they had repeatedly sought appointments with the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) and the Secretariat over the past three years but received no response.
As they attempted to move towards the CM’s residence, police intervened and stopped them, preventing direct interaction with the Chief Minister, who also holds the Education portfolio.
The agitators pointed out that despite the state government acknowledging a shortage of teachers in various schools, recruitment processes had stalled, leaving many of them unemployed.
They expressed concerns that several qualified aspirants would soon become overage and ineligible for government jobs if they were not appointed urgently.
“The CM has time to meet bloggers, but not the qualified teacher aspirants,” one of the protestors remarked, highlighting their frustration.
Many of the unemployed youth belong to economically weaker backgrounds, having completed their education by selling properties or taking loans. Now, facing prolonged uncertainty, they are struggling with financial pressure.
The Teachers’ Recruitment Board of Tripura (TRBT) had conducted the STGT exam in September 2022, but the aspirants argued that despite adequate vacancies, the recruitment process remained stagnant.
The protest ended with police detaining the agitators and clearing the area.
This demonstration reflects the growing frustration among educated unemployed youth in Tripura, who await stable job opportunities while the state grapples with a teacher shortage.
