Tripura govt recruited 5,215 school teachers in 5 years, says CM Manik Saha

AGARTALA: Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Thursday said the state has recruited 5,215 teachers over the past five years to ensure quality education in schools. Addressing an education department programme at Rabindra Bhavan here, he said the shortage of teachers was primarily due to the termination of a large number of teachers several years ago.

"People know for whom so many teachers lost their jobs in 2017, and now they have joined hands. This is political talk and I don’t want to dwell much on it," he said, indirectly referring to the CPI(M) and Congress alliance.

Following a petition filed by a group of job aspirants, the Tripura High Court had dismissed the services of 10,323 teachers , a decision later upheld by a Supreme Court division bench. As a result, 10,323 teachers lost their jobs in 2017, a year ahead of the 2018 Assembly elections.

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"In the last five years, we have recruited 5,215 teachers and 115 librarians to ensure proper functioning of schools. Besides, 567 LDCs and multitasking workers have also been appointed during the period," Saha said.

Asserting that the government is working to transform Tripura into an educational hub, he said institutes such as the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), National Institute of Technology (NIT), National Law University (NLU), National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU) and three medical colleges are already operational in the state.

"The state cabinet has decided to upgrade the Women’s College into a full-fledged women’s university and convert Tripura Institute of Technology into a technical university. These steps will significantly boost our plan to make Tripura an education hub," he said.

Claiming that the northeastern state is on the right path of growth and development, the CM said Tripura has become a favourite investment destination. "In a recently concluded business summit in Delhi, Tripura drew Rs 15,000 crore investment proposals out of Rs 30,000 crore. Besides, the NITI Aayog has declared Tripura as the frontrunner state. It shows the state is on the right path of growth and development", he added.