Allegation Erupts Against SoFED: Tripura’s Recruitment Agency Accused of Exploiting Unemployed Youths with Meagre Salaries

By Our Correspondent

Agartala, November 12, 2025

Serious allegations have surfaced against the Society for Entrepreneurship Development (SoFED), the state’s key outsourcing and recruitment agency in Tripura, accusing it of exploiting unemployed youths under the guise of contractual employment.

As per the latest Recruitment Notification No. 05/2025-26 issued by SoFED on November 5, 2025, the agency has invited online applications for several contractual positions in different departments and agencies across Tripura. The posts include Case Workers, Psycho-Social Counsellors, Office Assistants, Multi-Purpose Staff, Project Assistants, Accountants, Instructors, Finance Officers, Lower Division Clerks, and Resort Managers.

However, the announcement has triggered widespread resentment among job aspirants after details of the monthly remuneration came to light. The salaries for most positions range between Rs. 7,586 and Rs. 12,106 per month, which many have termed as shamefully low and inhumanly exploitative considering today’s cost of living. Even the comparatively higher positions like Accountant and Instructor offer only around Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 26,000 per month, while a Finance Officer post carries Rs. 45,000 and Project Implementing Officer Rs. 85,000, still seen as disproportionate to the qualifications and workloads required.

Critics have alleged that SoFED, which was created to promote entrepreneurship and provide fair employment opportunities, is now being used to cheat Tripura’s unemployed youths by engaging them in government projects and departments through temporary contracts with no job security, no benefits, and extremely low pay.

“This is nothing but modern-day exploitation in the name of employment. No one in the world is paid so little for such responsible positions,” remarked one job aspirant, expressing frustration over the ongoing trend of outsourcing and contract-based hiring.

The agency has invited online applications from November 11 to November 30, 2025, for a contractual period of six to eleven months under various departments including One Stop Centres, Industries & Commerce, State Project Directorate, TFDPC Ltd., and Tripura Nature Trails & Resorts Ltd.

The recruitment notification, while mentioning attractive designations, reveals a grim reality of contractual employment that offers neither stability nor financial security to the state’s educated youth.

As discontent grows, many have demanded a thorough review of SoFED’s recruitment model and urged the state government to intervene and ensure that Tripura’s unemployed youth are not pushed into underpaid, short-term engagements under the banner of development.

more news...