Rahul Gandhi vs DU again, this time over reserved faculty posts

In a post on X on Tuesday, Gandhi wrote: “‘Not Found Suitable’ is the new Manuism now. Qualified SC/ST/OBC candidates are being deliberately ‘disqualified’ – to keep them away from education and leadership. Babasaheb had said: Education is the biggest weapon for equality. But the Modi government is busy blunting that weapon.”

His post went to state: “In Delhi University, more than 60% of reserved posts of professors and more than 30% of reserved posts of associate professors have been kept vacant by calling them NFS [Not Found Suitable]. This is no exception – IITs, Central Universities, the same conspiracy is going on everywhere. NFS is an attack on the Constitution… a betrayal of social justice. This is not just a fight for education and employment – it is a fight for rights, respect and participation. I spoke to DUSU students – now together we will respond to every anti-reservation move of BJP/RSS with the power of the Constitution.”

DU Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh told The Indian Express: “This is completely incorrect data that Rahul Gandhi has quoted. It would’ve been nice of him if he could’ve asked us for the data before writing this.”

Looking at the numbers

According to data accessed by The Indian Express, DU’s departments advertised 272 vacancies for assistant professors, 246 for associate professors, and 107 for professors in its recent recruitment cycle of 2022–2025.

Of these, the university filled 233, 79, and 23 posts respectively.

A total of 79 posts — 10 assistant professors, 41 associate professors, and 28 professor positions — were declared “Not Found Suitable” (NFS). These included 17 posts reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC); 13 for Scheduled Tribes (ST); 21 for Other Backward Classes (OBC); 9 for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS); 4 for Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) and 15 posts under general category.

In contrast, the representation of these categories in appointments made during earlier cycles was lower. Between 2004 and 2014, only 15.5% of SC; 6.27% of ST; and 11.81% of OBC positions at the assistant professor level were filled.

The percentage dropped at the associate and professor levels. Only 0.69% and 2.08% (SC and ST, respectively) of associate professor posts were filled, and just 2.41% of professor posts were filled by SC candidates. No appointments for the post of professor were recorded under ST, OBC, or EWS categories.

From 2015 to 2025, DU appointed 509 faculty members across its departments — 426 assistant professors, 59 associate professors, and 24 professors. Within these, SC representation was 14.79%, 16.95%, and 12.5% respectively, while ST appointments stood at 7.28% (assistant), 3.39% (associate), and 4.17% (professor).

In its affiliated colleges, DU had 4,491 vacancies for assistant professors between 2022 and 2025, out of which 4,414 were filled. Of these, 77 posts were declared NFS — including 0.09% of SC posts, 0.11% of ST, 0.27% of OBC, and 0.56% of EWS; indicating comparatively lower NFS usage at the college level than within university departments.

DU South Campus Director Shri Prakash Singh also responded to Gandhi’s criticism by emphasising the rigour of the university’s recruitment process. “Since Professor Yogesh Singh became Vice-Chancellor, this process has become more regular — we hold selections five days a week. Our major concern is the eligibility and authenticity of published work, and that applies to unreserved posts too.”

“We don’t know who shared this data with him,” he added. “The administration has not been approached. All we can say is that this is incorrect information. Mr Gandhi is doing politics with an academic institution. That is not acceptable from a responsible leader of this country.”

“The university is not changing and will not be changing the nature of the posts decided in the roster,” Singh added.