Can’t de-reserve quota posts: Education Ministry on draft UGC guidelines

PTI

New Delhi, January 28

The Ministry of Education (MoE) on Sunday clarified that no reserved posts can be de-reserved after draft guidelines by the University Grants Commission (UGC) proposed that any vacancy reserved for SC, ST and OBC candidates can be declared unreserved if enough candidates from these categories are not available.

In damage-control mode after row

• Draft UGC guidelines propose that any vacancy reserved for SC, ST and OBC candidates can be declared unreserved if enough candidates from these categories are not available. The guidelines have drawn flak from different quarters
• However, the Ministry of Education has clarified that “after enactment of the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers’ Cadre) Act, 2019, no reserved post is to be de-reserved

The ‘Guidelines for Implementation of the Reservation Policy of the Government of India in Higher Education Institutes (HEIs)’ are in the public domain for feedback from stakeholders.

The draft guidelines have drawn flak from several quarters. The Congress alleged there is a “conspiracy” to end reservation given to SCs, STs and OBCs in posts in higher education institutions and that the government is only doing “politics of symbolism” on the issues of Dalits, backward classes and tribals.

The JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) also held a protest against it and burnt an effigy of UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar.

Kumar also clarified that there had 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.

“Reservation in Central Educational Institutions is provided for all posts in direct recruitment in Teacher’s cadre as per the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers’ Cadre) Act, 2019. “After enactment of this Act, no reserved post is to be de-reserved. Ministry of Education has given directives to all the CEIs to fill up the vacancies strictly as per the 2019 ACT,” the Ministry of Education wrote on X.

Kumar also posted: “This is to clarify that there has been no de-reservation of reserved category positions in Central Educational Institutions in the past and there is going to be no such de-reservation.

“It is important for all HEIs to ensure that all backlog positions in the reserved category are filled up through concerted efforts.” According to new draft guidelines by the UGC: “A vacancy reserved for SC or ST or OBC cannot be filled by a candidate other than an SC or ST or OBC candidate, as the case may be.

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