Tripura ADC’s Landmark Move to Regularise Samagra Shiksha Staff Sparks Debate Over State Government’s Delay

By Our Correspondent

Agartala, March 21, 2026

In a significant development that has stirred political and administrative discussions across Tripura, the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (ADC) has taken a bold step by regularising a section of contractual employees under the Samagra Shiksha project, years after similar promises remained unfulfilled by the state government.

Ahead of the 2018 Assembly elections, one of the key assurances made by the BJP was the regularisation of teachers and employees working under the Samagra Shiksha scheme. However, nearly eight years into its tenure, the state government has yet to implement this commitment, leading to growing dissatisfaction among employees.

The issue has also seen legal intervention. The High Court had ruled in favour of regularising contractual teachers under Samagra Shiksha, even if they had not cleared the Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET). However, the state government has refused to implement the order and instead challenged it by filing a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court. The government has maintained that regularisation cannot be granted without TET qualification.

Amid this prolonged uncertainty, the ADC authority has taken an independent and decisive step. Without engaging in discussions with the state government, the ADC recently issued a notification on March 10 regularising 18 non-teaching staff working under the Samagra Shiksha scheme in ADC-run schools. This includes 12 Lower Division Clerk-cum Computer Assistants and 6 Senior Computer Assistants.

Notably, the regularisation has been made effective from the date of their initial appointment. The employees will also be entitled to full service benefits, including pension and gratuity, making this decision particularly significant and unprecedented.

The Tripura Samagra Shiksha Non-Teaching Employees Association has termed the move historic and expressed gratitude to the ADC authority. At the same time, the organisation has renewed its demand for the state government to follow the ADC’s example and immediately regularise all teachers and non-teaching staff under the scheme.

The association has also expressed hope that the Chief Minister will take swift and positive steps to resolve the long-pending issue.

Currently, around 850 non-teaching employees are working under the Samagra Shiksha project across Tripura. Many of them have been serving for over two decades on a contractual basis despite being recruited as per government norms. These employees are engaged in crucial administrative and technical roles at the state, district, block, Block Resource Centres, Cluster Resource Centres, and ADC levels.

The ADC’s decision has now triggered a wider debate in political and administrative circles. Observers point out that if an autonomous body like the ADC—largely dependent on state funding—can regularise its contractual workforce, the state government too has the capacity to do so.

Many believe that with sufficient political will, legal complexities can be resolved and a long-awaited solution delivered to hundreds of employees who have dedicated years of service to the education system.

The coming days are expected to be crucial as pressure mounts on the state government to act decisively on the issue.

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