Reported by: Mrinal Banik
Agartala: Job aspirants in Tripura who cleared the 2024 TET-1 and TET-2 examinations to become eligible for recruitment as teachers in government schools staged a protest on Thursday, demanding simultaneous recruitment of all 1,856 candidates who had scored the qualifying marks in the selection tests.
In order to control the situation in the later stage of the protests, police used mild force, and water cannons were fired to disperse the crowd of protesters.
The aspirants approached the chairman of the Teachers Recruitment Board, Tripura (TRBT), seeking an early resolution to the recruitment process, which they alleged had remained pending for a long period. The protesters were detained and taken to the police lines at AD Nagar, police sources said.
The candidates said they had cleared the TET-1 and TET-2 examinations in 2024, following which a list of eligible candidates was published. They subsequently applied for recruitment to government-designated GT and UT posts, they said.
According to the candidates, document verification for around 1,856 applicants had also been completed. However, they alleged that the list of candidates recommended for appointment had not yet been published despite the passage of considerable time.
The job aspirants said they had approached the TRBT several times to press for their demand for early recruitment but had not received a satisfactory resolution. They reiterated their demand on Thursday during their meeting attempt with the board chairman, insisting that all 1,856 candidates who cleared the 2024 TET-1 and TET-2 examinations should be recruited together without further selection.
The protesters also alleged that they had repeatedly sought meetings with the Chief Minister and Finance Minister over the recruitment issue but had not been given an opportunity to meet them. They said the prolonged delay in recruitment had caused financial and other difficulties.
As the protest continued, police used water cannons to disperse the demonstrators. Several protesting TET-qualified job seekers were subsequently detained and taken away in police vehicles before being taken to the AD Nagar police lines.
Following the police action, the candidates reiterated their demand for completion of the recruitment process and appointment of all eligible candidates. They said they had been raising the issue peacefully for a long time.
The protesters warned of further agitation if the issue was not resolved immediately.