Union Education Minister clarified that not a single post will be de-reserved and there is no scope for ambiguity about reservations.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) on Tuesday, 30 January, removed from its website the draft guidelines suggesting “de-reservation” of reserved posts if enough candidates from the SC, ST, and OBC categories are not available, amid a controversy over the issue.
However, UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar said: “The guidelines have been removed from the website as the time period for stakeholders to submit their feedback is over.”
A controversy erupted on Sunday over the UGC’s draft guidelines proposing that any vacancy reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), and Other Backward Class (OBC) candidates could be “declared unreserved” if enough candidates from these categories were not available, with the Congress terming it a conspiracy to do away with quota in higher education institutions.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan clarified that not a single post will be de-reserved and there is no scope for ambiguity about reservations after the introduction of the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers’ Cadre) Act of 2019.
The UGC chairman also made it clear that there has been no de-reservation of reserved category positions in Central Educational Institutions (CEI) in the past and there is “going to be no such de-reservation”.
The draft guidelines have drawn flak from several quarters. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the BJP is “only busy snatching the jobs of youths”.
The JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) also staged a protest against the UGC chairman on the issue on Monday.
Stepping up an attack, the Congress on Monday demanded the dismissal of UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar over the draft guidelines for “de-reservation” of posts in higher education institutions, with party leader Rahul Gandhi alleging it was a “conspiracy” to end the reservation given to SC, ST and OBC categories.
Pradhan, however, hit back at Gandhi saying his politics is completely based on lies.
The minister said that of the 6,080 appointments made, the participation of SC was 14.3 percent, ST 7 percent, and OBC 23.42 percent.
It is clear from the data that the maximum number of appointments in reserved posts in central universities have been made under the Narendra Modi government, the minister said on Monday.
The UGC earlier unveiled the draft guidelines titled “Guidelines for Implementation of the Reservation Policy of the Government of India in Higher Education Institutes” (HEIs).
These guidelines stirred controversy due to a particular provision that allows a vacancy reserved for SC, ST, and OBC candidates to be declared unreserved if an adequate number of eligible candidates from these categories are not available.
Similarly, de-reservation was proposed for promotions as well.
“If an adequate number of eligible candidates from SC or ST for promotion against reserved vacancies is unavailable, the option to de-reserve such positions and fill them with candidates from other communities is outlined,” according to the UGC drafted guidelines.
The authority to approve the de-reservation of these reserved vacancies in such instances was delegated to either the UGC or the Union Ministry of Education.
(With PTI inputs)
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