A recent RTI has revealed that 45 percent of posts reserved for SC candidates in Central Universities are vacant, the percentage increases to 52 percent for the ST candidates and 56 percent for the OBC candidatess. In comparison, only 15 per cent of seats allocated to the unreserved category remain vacant. The All India OBC Students Association Association has written to the National Commission for Backward Classes to take immediate action in the matter.
Kiran Kumar Gowd, the President of the Association, had previously written to the Commission in August 2020. According to the RTI, out of 18,352 sanctioned faculty positions at the professor, associate professor and assistant professor level, 10,230 positions are allocated to the general category (55.74), 2266 positions for SC (12.34 per cent) 1135 for the STs (6.1 per cent) and 3345 positions for the OBCs (18.22 per cent). This itself is in violation of the constitutionally mandated reservation policy of 15 per cent for SCs, 7.5 per cent for STs and 27 percent for OBCs.
“The frequent use of the ‘None Found Suitable (NFS) option by the Selection Committees under the Chairpersonship of Vice-Chancellors is seriously impacting the opportunity of reserved candidates,” Gowd wrote in the letter.
Consequently, the Association placed three demands before the commission — the University Grants Commission shall implement reservation policy in toto in the sanctioned faculty positions in all Central Universities. In total sanctioned positions to central Universities, the UGC shall allocate 15 per cent for SCs, 7.5 per cent for STs and 27 per cent for OBCs. Secondly, they demanded that unfilled sanctioned positions in all categories shall be notified in a phased manner and fill them in order to do justice to SC, ST, OBCs, EWS and PwD candidates. Finally, they demanded that the UGC shall issue clear guidelines on ‘None Found Suitable’ and it shall be avoided when there are eligible and qualified applicants in the reserved categories.
“Indian Higher Education Institutions are highly dominated by the left-wing and Marxist intellectuals and academicians and we are highly critical about their ‘progressive struggles’ when there is a gross injustice that is taking place of oppressed sections in the Central Universities,” the President argued. He pointed out that many of these seats are ‘occupied by intellectuals’ and yet there was injustice being done to oppressed sections. “In order to by-pass the impact of such intellectuals who are in higher positions on the recruitment process, we need clear directions from the Ministry of Education and Central Government for the implementation of reservation policy in central universities,” he added.
An RTI filed in August this year, it sought the percentage of OBC professors in 40 Central Universities and has revealed that there are only nine posts that have been occupied by OBC professors despite 313 posts being sanctioned for the community. With Associate Professors, the percentage remains similar, only 38 posts have been filled when 735 posts have been sanctioned and when it comes to Assistant Professors, only 1327 occupy the 2232 posts sanctioned for the community.
Earlier last month, the NCBC responded to complaints raised by the Association and organised a public hearing with students, research scholars, teaching and non-teaching staff of University of Hyderabad, at which Gowd studies. Issues relating to representation of OBCs in teachers and non teaching representation, roster issues, PhD and MPhil admissions related issues and representation of OBCs in administrative positions.