HCU releases employment notification for faculty positions; to address OBC vacancies as well

This notification has been released after a long struggle by the All India OBC Students’ Association against the violation of reservation policies in the Appointment Roster  
Here are the details | (Pic: EdexLive)
Here are the details | (Pic: EdexLive)

In an attempt to fill all OBC Shortfall Positions, Hyderabad Central University (HCU) released the employment notification for 76 teaching positions, i.e. Professors and Assistant Professors on May 3, 2023. This development has come after a long agitation by the All India OBC Student Association (AIOBCSA) against violations of reservation policy in the Reservation Roster Register. 

Violations in Roster Registers – a long-standing issue

The issue arose during the term of the previous Vice Chancellor of the university, Dr. Appa Rao Podile. Kiran Kumar Gowd, the President of AIOBCSA, reveals, “We filed a Right to Information (RTI) application, and it revealed that out of 313 sanctioned positions, only 9 were filled. As a result, we began to actively demand for these posts to be filled.”

On November 12, 2020, the National Council for Backward Classes held a public hearing at the HCU Campus, after AIOBCSA made several complaints about discrimination in admissions and faculty appointments towards OBCs, reserved seats going vacant, and violation of admission guidelines. The students also demanded that HCU implement the hearing panel’s orders, and send reports asked by the NCBC “without falsification of information,” as reported earlier by EdexLive.

Persistent struggle against university apathy

However, a month after the hearing, the AIOBCSA staged an “OBC Satyagraha” against the varsity, alleging that the then Vice-Chancellor Appa Rao committed “fraud against OBCs” by “denying and violating reservation policy.” This protest continued all the way to January 2021, and other demands of the protestors included notifying vacant PhD and MPhil positions and the immediate correction of violations in OBC Reservation policies in preparing rosters. 

In January 2021, the NCBC made an inquiry into the University’s implementation of reservations following a complaint by Kiran Kumar and promised that they would take immediate action on the demands of the protesting students. 

The NCBC issued a notice to the University of Hyderabad on October 14, 2021, asking it to follow the rules of the University Grants Commission in PhD enrollments and mend the issues regarding the Reservation Roster Register, following a hearing that took place on September 9 after a complaint from Kiran Kumar alleging inaction from the university. In the notice, the NCBC also called for the regularisation of non-teaching posts in the university. The newly appointed Vice Chancellor, Dr. BJ Rao, promised to have the corrected roster uploaded on the website within seven working days. 

On January 20, 2022, Kiran Kumar wrote to the Chairman of the NCBC, Dr. Bhagwan Lal Sahni yet again, alleging that the University of Hyderabad has “not addressed one single issue that may be at the policy level or at the individual grievances,” despite hearings that took place in Hyderabad and Delhi, and the struggle for OBC reservation that had been going on since 2019. 

He, in the letter, requests the NCBC to look into whether the rosters of the HCU are in accordance with government norms, whether there is any shortfall in appointments of OBCs and the steps taken to notify them of future vacancies, delay in implementation of the directives given by the NCBC related to PhD admissions, issues faced by non-teaching staff, and more.

Justice assured, but fight for equality goes on

With the university finally attempting to fill OBC reserved positions, AIOBCSA says that their “long struggle has resulted in the filling of all OBC Shortfall faculty positions at the University of Hyderabad,” and that the “gross violations of reservation policy committed during the term of Prof. Appa Rao have now been rectified under current VC Prof. B. J. Rao.”

Kiran Kumar says, “Even though this is justice delayed, AIOBCSA is happy that justice has been assured at long last. We will continue our fight to secure the right to reservation, and make sure that the university grants all SC, ST, and OBC students this right. We have full faith in the NCBC, and will continue to fight for our rights democratically.”

He adds that the Association is also pressuring the university to fill the backlogs in the 27% reserved posts, and is fighting against discriminating candidates because they are “not suitable.” In addition, it is also fighting for the increase in Fellowships for OBC students to 5000 and is lending support to the calls for a caste census to be conducted in India. 

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