Tripura’s Leader of the Opposition, Jitendra Chaudhury, on Saturday criticized both the historical neglect of education by the Manikya dynasty and the current governance of the Tipra Motha Party in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC).
He alleged that the party has prioritized language and script issues over improving the region’s educational infrastructure.
Speaking at Agartala on the occasion of Jana Shiksha Diwas, Chaudhury, who also serves as the CPI(M) state secretary, reflected on the state’s past educational movements. He noted that initiatives like the Jana Shiksha Andolan were instrumental in establishing hundreds of schools, particularly in tribal areas, and helped generations of students succeed academically and professionally.
“The princely rulers built grand structures such as Ujjayanta Palace and Neer Mahal, yet they failed to educate even a small portion of the population. Education, which empowers people with knowledge, consciousness, and the courage to question, was consciously ignored during their reign,” Chaudhury remarked.
Highlighting the achievements of the Jana Shiksha Andolan of 1948, he pointed out that 11 young leaders, including former Chief Ministers Dasharath Dev and Nripen Chakraborty, had founded around 400 schools, transforming Tripura’s educational and socio-political landscape.
Turning to the present, Chaudhury alleged that the Tipra Motha Party, which assumed control of the TTAADC in 2021, promised to address the educational gap caused by the previous Left Front government’s use of Bengali as the medium of instruction. However, he claimed, no new schools have been opened, teacher recruitment has stalled, and over 1,000 schools have been shut down.
“Approximately 95% of students in rural areas rely on government schools, which today suffer from a lack of teachers and proper language medium. Instead of addressing these urgent educational needs, the party is focused on language and script debates, diverting attention from its failures,” Chaudhury asserted.
