Agartala: Mar 22: Around 40,000 irregular employees working across various departments of the Tripura state government have been demanding regularization of their positions for years. Today, the Tripura Irregular Employees Forum (TIEF) held a press conference to highlight their six-point demands and warned the government that if their grievances are not addressed within a month, they will launch a Secretariat campaign in the first week of May.
These employees, who have long been advocating for regularization, reference a 2006-07 decision by the state assembly to regularize irregular employees. Despite this, many employees have not been regularized as per that resolution. The situation worsened in 2018 when the state cabinet halted the regularization process, and no new directives were issued for part-time employees. As a result, between 30,000 to 32,000 employees remain in a state of uncertainty.
The lack of a government scheme has prevented these employees from approaching the High Court for a resolution. They argue that their constitutional right to “equal pay for equal work” is being ignored, as they continue to receive meager wages, making it difficult to support their families.
In the seven years since the last regularization, no progress has been made. Before the 2018 assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had promised in its vision document that it would regularize all irregular employees if it came to power. However, this promise remains unfulfilled.
The Tripura Irregular Employees Forum has now presented six demands to the state government, including the regularization of all irregular employees, a one-time payment of ₹10 lakh to retired employees, and the introduction of a regularization scheme for those with ten years of service.
Forum leaders have made it clear that if their demands are not addressed, they will proceed with the planned Secretariat campaign in May, further escalating their protests.
