Teachers in Tripura polls fray to bring back jobs of 10,323 colleagues

Giving the jobs back to the 10,323 teachers is definitely my main task after coming to power, a tribal candidate, who also lost his job, told DH

10,323. The number has become a buzzword in campaigns ahead of the Assembly elections in Tripura on February 16. This is the number of teachers, who had lost their jobs following a judgement by the Tripura High Court in May 2014.

The teachers were sacked for appointments without conducting written tests. The CPI (M) was in power then.

Soon the sacked teachers took to the streets, pleaded in the Supreme Court and even knocked on the doors of all political parties. But the Supreme Court in 2017 upheld the High Court order and only allowed their ad-hoc appointment till March 2020. All they got from political parties is a promise in their manifesto ahead of elections. The manifesto has made the same promise ahead of elections this time too.

Read | Tripura: BJP manifesto promises greater autonomy for tribal council, financial assistance, meal at Rs 5

Sudip Sarkar and Satyajit Reang, two such teachers this time, however, have been fielded by the Opposition CPI-M to contest the elections against BJP and Tipra Motha. "Our party has promised to solve the issue for once and all in the first cabinet meeting after coming to power," Sarkar told DH as he sat with a few supporters in CPI(M) state office here. "We have not received salaries since April 2020. Many teachers are now working as daily wagers, some are even selling fish and vegetables for livelihoods," Sarkar said. "We have lost 150 such teachers, who either committed suicides or died due to heart diseases since we lost our jobs," he said.

Sarkar, now 49 and a father of two children, had joined CPI (M) in 2000. "My family has always believed in left ideology," he said. "Ahead of Assembly elections in 2018, BJP had promised to give us jobs on the humanitarian ground by amending the laws. But they failed to fulfil the promise. They are making the same false promise again," said Sarkar. He is contesting in the Barjala Assembly constituency (reserved for SC) against sitting MLA, Dilip Kumar Das of BJP. Sarkar worked as a graduate teacher at Lankamura Higher Secondary School in West Tripura.

Satyajit Reang, a tribal candidate, who also lost his job, has been fielded by the CPI(M) from the Santirbazar Assembly constituency. He is contesting against sitting BJP MLA, Pramod Reang. He joined CPI(M) in 2020. "Giving the jobs back to the 10,323 teachers is definitely my main task after coming to power," Reang told DH. He contested the elections of the Tripura Tribal Autonomous District Council in March 2021 but lost to a BJP candidate.

When asked why he decided to join CPI (M) as the party failed to give them jobs despite staying in power till 2018, Reang said, "The party (CPI-M) has realised the mistake and will fulfil the promise after coming to power this time."

Reang is, however, against the demand for Greater Tipraland by Tipra Motha, for the tribals, despite being a tribal leader. "Since childhood, we have seen how the Tipraland issue was used to win elections. So this is nothing but to play with the emotions of the tribal voters for power," he said. Reang claimed that most tribals don't want division of Tripura and so they would vote for CPI(M) and Congress contesting the elections in a seat-sharing arrangement for the first time in Tripura.