Tripura Congress urges exemption of 9,000 school teachers from census duty
Synopsis
With over 18,000 teaching posts vacant and more than 400 Tripura schools running on a single teacher, the Congress is demanding that 9,000 state school teachers be pulled out of census duty entirely — arguing the state cannot afford to empty classrooms for enumeration work while simultaneously planning to expand pre-primary sections in 450 schools.
Key Takeaways
Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee has written to Chief Minister Manik Saha on 17 July 2025 demanding exemption of 9,000 government school teachers from census enumeration duties.
Around 18,000 teaching posts are currently vacant across various levels of education in Tripura, according to TPCC President Asish Kumar Saha .
A NITI Aayog report cited in the letter found that more than 400 government schools in the state function with only a single teacher.
The state government has announced plans to add pre-primary and nursery sections in 450 schools despite the ongoing teacher shortage.
Census Phase 1 Self-Enumeration began 18 July and runs to 31 July ; House Listing and Enumeration follows from 1–30 August .
The second census phase (Population Enumeration) is scheduled for February 2027 .
The Indian National Congress (INC) has formally urged the Tripura government to exempt teachers of state-run schools from the upcoming national census exercise, demanding that contractual staff be engaged instead for enumeration work. The demand, raised in a letter to Chief Minister Manik Saha on 17 July 2025, comes amid what the party describes as a deepening teacher shortage crisis across the state.
The Core Demand
Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President Asish Kumar Saha, a former MLA, wrote to the Chief Minister arguing that assigning approximately 9,000 government school teachers to census duties would severely disrupt academic activities across Tripura. He called for the immediate engagement of contractual personnel to handle enumeration, insulating classrooms from further disruption.
Saha also demanded that the state government launch a transparent recruitment drive without delay to fill the large backlog of vacant teaching posts — a demand the Congress says it has been pressing repeatedly.
Scale of the Teacher Shortage
According to Asish Kumar Saha, around 18,000 teaching posts at various levels of education are currently lying vacant across Tripura. A NITI Aayog report, he said, had flagged that more than 400 government schools are operating with only a single teacher.
'In the interior and tribal-inhabited areas, a large number of schools have been closed due to various reasons. Owing to the shortage of teaching and non-teaching staff, academic activities have been adversely affected, leading to a decline in the quality of education,' Saha said in his letter.
He also pointed to what he called a contradiction in the state government's approach: officials have announced plans to introduce pre-primary and nursery sections in 450 schools even as existing teacher vacancies remain unfilled.
Recurring Burden on Teachers
The Congress leader argued that government school teachers in Tripura are routinely pulled away from classrooms for administrative duties — including election-related work and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls — compounding the impact of the existing shortage.
'Teachers should primarily focus on educating students and carrying out academic programmes. However, they are frequently assigned to various government administrative duties,' Saha said.
Census Timeline in Tripura
Separately, Tripura Director of Census Operations Ratan Biswas confirmed on Thursday that the first phase of the census — the Self-Enumeration process — would commence on Friday, 18 July and run through 31 July. The second stage of Phase 1, covering House Listing and House Enumeration, is scheduled from 1 August to 30 August.
Officials noted that enumerators and supervisors for this phase are drawn largely from the pool of school teachers. The second phase, involving Population Enumeration, is slated for February 2027, during which detailed socio-economic data on every individual will be collected. Training of census personnel, including enumerators and supervisors, was completed on Thursday ahead of the nationwide exercise.
What Happens Next
The Tripura government has not yet responded publicly to the Congress demand. With the Self-Enumeration phase already under way, any decision to replace teacher-enumerators with contractual staff would need to be taken swiftly to avoid operational disruption. Education advocates are likely to keep pressure on the state to address the 18,000 vacant posts regardless of the census outcome.
Point of View
Plans to expand school sections, and then deploys its scarcest resource — teachers — for administrative exercises. With 18,000 posts vacant and over 400 schools running on a single teacher, pulling 9,000 educators for census work is not a neutral logistical decision; it is a policy choice with direct consequences for learning outcomes, particularly in tribal and interior areas. The government's silence on transparent recruitment is the more telling gap — census duty is temporary, but the vacancy crisis is structural. Until the state treats teacher recruitment as urgently as it treats census compliance, announcements about education quality will remain aspirational.
NationPress
17 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the Congress demanding that Tripura school teachers be exempted from census duty?
The Congress argues that Tripura already faces an acute shortage of teachers, with around 18,000 posts vacant and over 400 schools running on a single teacher. Deploying approximately 9,000 teachers for census enumeration would further disrupt academic activities, particularly in tribal and interior areas.
What is the current status of teacher vacancies in Tripura?
According to TPCC President Asish Kumar Saha, around 18,000 teaching posts at various levels are currently vacant in Tripura. A NITI Aayog report has also flagged that more than 400 government schools are functioning with only one teacher.
What is the census schedule for Tripura in 2025?
The Self-Enumeration phase of Census Phase 1 began on 18 July and runs until 31 July 2025. House Listing and House Enumeration follows from 1 to 30 August. The second phase, Population Enumeration, is scheduled for February 2027.
Who are typically used as census enumerators in Tripura?
According to officials, most enumerators and supervisors for the census exercise are drawn from the pool of government school teachers. The Congress wants contractual staff engaged instead, to keep teachers in classrooms.
What else has the Congress demanded alongside the census exemption?
The Congress has also called on the Tripura government to immediately launch a transparent recruitment drive to fill the large number of vacant teaching posts, arguing that the shortage of both teaching and non-teaching staff has already led to a measurable decline in education quality.
