Hopeful of saving reservation for SCs/STs, says Javadekar

New Delhi, July 19

The government has put on hold recruitment for teaching positions in universities and colleges pending a decision on the special leave petition it has filed against a court order curtailing reservation for SCs/STs and OBCs, HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Thursday.

He said the government is committed to 50 per cent reservation to SCs/STs and OBCs and it “does not agree” with the Allahabad High Court ruling that had in April last struck down a circular prescribing institution-wise reservation to fill vacant faculty positions.

“We are hopeful we will be able to save reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs,” he said replying to Zero Hour mention by opposition members in the Rajya Sabha.

“Reservation is a Constitutional right...we stand by reservation and are committed to providing it to SCs/STs and OBCs,” he said, adding that the Union Government and University Grants Commission (UGC) had filed separate SLPs against the order and the next date of hearing is on August 13.

He said the Allahabad High Court order was later upheld by the Supreme Court, forcing the UGC to issue the March 5 circular laying down a new mechanism for implementing faculty reservations, which is calculating total posts department or subject-wise rather than institution-wise.

This meant calculating reservation in teaching posts by department, instead of basing the quota as on the number of posts available at university.

Previously, SCs, STs and OBC faculty positions were calculated by treating the entire university as a unit. It grouped all posts of a grade, such as assistant profession, in all departments of a university to calculate quota. Under the new formula, where every department will be considered one separate unit, there will be a lower chance of positions being set aside for quota as there may be fewer openings.

Javadekar said his ministry had on Wednesday ordered a stop on filling of vacancies at universities/colleges pending decision on SLP.

“No harm will be done to reservations (to SCs, STs and OBCs),” he said.

Jio University issue

Javdekar said the RIL-backed Jio University has been given a letter of intent under the greenfield category. Under this category, where institutes are yet to be set up, 11 applications were received. The minister said the greenfield category is on the lines of international universities where the private sector invests thousands of crores.

Earlier, raising the issue through a Zero Hour mention, Ram Gopal Yadav (SP) said the UGC had on March 5 issued a new 13-point reservation roster for SC/ST and OBC category that provided for preparing reservation list keeping department/subject as a unit instead of the university/college.

He said as per the Constitution, 15 per cent, 7.5 per cent and 27 per cent reservation is provided for SCs/STs and OBCs, respectively.

Till now, the UGC had specifically prohibited the practice of making department-wise cadres as that would lead to denial of reservation in small departments.

He demanded that the UGC order be declared “null and void”, a demand that was supported by Leader of the Opposition and Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, who said the roster would curtail reservation to SCs, STs and OBCs.

Azad said while the Constitution provided for reservation to SCs and STs, the Congress government had in 1993 provided the same to other backward classes (OBCs).

The practice of creating department-wise category is strictly forbidden, he said.

Ashok Siddharth (BSP) said after the UGC order, vacancies had been advertised and such recruitment must be stopped. TNS/PTI