Tripura: Row over decision to withdraw PRTC requirement for govt jobs

Guwahati: The Tripura government’s decision to withdraw the mandatory requirement of a Permanent Resident of Tripura Certificate (PRTC) for recruitment to state government jobs has triggered controversy with opposition parties and several tribal-based organisations opposing the move.

Tripura Tourism and Transport Minister Sushanta Chowdhury said that the PRTC would no longer be mandatory for candidates applying for Tripura government jobs. Instead, job aspirants would be required to prove that they have studied for five consecutive years in any school in the state, he said.

Chowdhury, who is also the state government spokesman, said the decision was taken by the state cabinet following a case filed by a Delhi resident in the Tripura High Court and the court’s directives for reconsideration of the issue relating to the mandatory requirement of PRTC.


Opposition parties, including the CPI(M) and Congress, as well as several tribal-based organisations, strongly opposed the government’s decision and demanded immediate withdrawal of the new provision.

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Leader of Opposition (LoP) Jitendra Chaudhury said that withdrawal of the PRTC requirement for Tripura government jobs would open the door for job aspirants from other states, particularly BJP-ruled West Bengal, Assam and Bihar.

“The previous Left Front government had introduced the PRTC to protect the interests of job seekers of Tripura. But after the BJP government came to power in Tripura in 2018, it unofficially relaxed the mandatory provisions of the PRTC and provided government jobs to people from West Bengal, Assam, Bihar and other states."

Congress leader and advocate Rakhu Das said, "To protect the interests of indigenous people, Assam has already introduced the National Register of Citizens (NRC), while many Northeastern states have the Inner Line Permit system. But the Tripura government is moving in the opposite direction and harming the interests of local people."

Another Congress leader referred to a decision taken by the BJP government in Arunachal Pradesh last week, under which a candidate seeking a government job in the state must be an Indian citizen and an inhabitant of Arunachal Pradesh possessing a valid Permanent Residence Certificate (PRC) issued by the designated competent authority.

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The Tripura Tribal Employees Association, Twipra Students’ Federation and several other organisations have also demanded withdrawal of the state government’s decision to remove the mandatory PRTC requirement for government jobs.

The organisations said the existing provision was intended to safeguard the interests of local job seekers and expressed apprehension that its (PRTC) withdrawal could increase competition from candidates from outside the state.