Admissions to research degree programmes and the recruitment of faculties at the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) will now strictly follow the reservation policy as mentioned under the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers' Cadre) Act, 2019. The Supreme Court, on December 19, Monday, directed the Centre to ensure this.
The apex court was hearing a plea filed by SN Pandey, a man who alleged that the reservation guidelines under this act were being violated and sought direction in this regard. A bench of Justices MR Shah and CT Ravikumar heard the matter, as per a PTI report.
"It is submitted that the process of taking admissions in the research program and appointment of faculty members by the respondents (IITs) are completely unconstitutional, illegal and arbitrary. The respondents are not following the guidelines of reservation as per the constitutional mandate," Pandey's plea, filed through Advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey, says.
The plea alleges that the IITs are not following a transparent faculty recruitment process. It states that a window for non-deserving candidates has been opened to enter prestigious institutions through connections. And this has increased the chances of corruption, favouritism and discrimination, affecting the country's internal ranking and technological growth.
"The respondents (IITs) are completely violating the reservation policies that provide for reservation to socially marginalised communities belonging to the SC (15 per cent), ST (17 per cent) and OBCs (27 per cent)," the plea says further. Pandey also sought cancellation of the appointments of non-performing faculty due to violation of reservation norms and the formulation of a transparent recruitment policy, as per PTI.
The plea additionally sought directives for the creation of a mechanism for resolving harassment complaints by students/scholars related to research work and to constitute a committee of technical experts to review the performance of the existing faculty. On the other hand, the counsel appearing for the respondent submitted that the respective guidelines were being implemented.
After the arguments, the bench said, "Counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent has pointed out that now in view of the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers' Cadre) Act, 2019, the reservation is provided concerning all the Central Educational Institutions including the IITs. The concerned respondents are hereby directed to follow the reservation and act as per the reservations provided under the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers' Cadre) Act, 2019."
The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers' Cadre) Act provides reservations in teaching positions in central institutions. The persons from Scheduled Castes/Tribes (SC/ST), socially and educationally backward classes, and those from Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) are the beneficiaries under this Act, as per PTI.