Tripura Congress MLA demands removal of age limit for assistant professor recruitment

Senior Congress leader and MLA Sudip Roy Barman has appealed to Tripura Chief Minister Prof. (Dr.) Manik Saha and the Tripura Public Service Commission (TPSC) to abolish the upper age limit of 40 years for the recruitment of Assistant Professors in general and professional degree colleges, citing a violation of University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines.

In his letter, Roy Barman highlighted that the current recruitment advertisements — No. 05/2025 dated January 30 and No. 15/2025 dated May 7 — restrict eligible candidates above the age of 40 from applying, despite UGC norms not prescribing any upper age limit for such positions.

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“Many NET/SET/PhD-qualified candidates and experienced guest lecturers from Tripura are being unfairly deprived due to this age cap,” he noted, adding that several other states, as well as Tripura University, do not follow such restrictive criteria.

The Congress MLA urged the state government to align its recruitment policy with national academic standards and provide equal opportunity to all qualified aspirants, regardless of age.

His appeal has reignited a larger debate on academic recruitment policies, with pressure mounting on the state government to revise the rules in the interest of merit and fairness.