Tension prevailed in the capital city of Agartala on Thursday as unemployed youths who qualified in the TET-I and TET-II examinations held in 2024 staged a protest outside Shiksha Bhavan, demanding immediate and simultaneous recruitment of all successful candidates.
The protesting aspirants gathered at Shiksha Bhavan seeking an appointment with the Chairman of the Joint Recruitment Board of Tripura (JRBT) to press for their demand. They demanded the publication of the merit/recommendation list and issuance of appointment letters to the 1,856 candidates who had cleared the examinations, claiming that the document verification process had already been completed.
The candidates alleged that despite qualifying for the examinations, they have been waiting for government jobs for a long time and that repeated attempts to meet Chief Minister Prof. Dr Manik Saha and Finance Minister Pranajit Singha Roy over the recruitment issue had failed to yield any response.
The situation turned tense when the agitation intensified, following which police used water cannons to disperse the protesters. Around 100 demonstrators were reportedly detained and taken to the AD Nagar Police Lines.
According to police, the action was taken after intelligence inputs indicated the possibility of a cognizable offence during the protest and to clear the busy Office Lane road. SDPO (Sadar) Panna Lal Sen said that water cannons were used after other measures failed to bring the situation under control.
However, the protesting candidates alleged that they faced police action instead of receiving answers from the Education Department or the state administration. One of the aspirants claimed that several women protesters were pushed, knocked down and dragged towards police vehicles during the dispersal drive.
“We passed the TET examinations and have been waiting for jobs for a long time. It is almost the end of 2026, but there is still no clarity regarding our recruitment,” the aspirant said, alleging that protesters were threatened with FIRs and cases that could affect their careers.
The candidates maintained that their demand was only for clarity on why all eligible successful candidates could not be recruited together. They urged the government to resolve the issue through dialogue and complete the recruitment process without further delay.
The protesters warned that if their demands were not addressed, they would launch a larger movement, including extended sit-in demonstrations and hunger strikes in the coming days.