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The Union government and the University Grants Commission (UGC) were on Sunday seen issuing clarifications that faculty positions in universities reserved for SC, ST, OBC, and EWS candidates will not be opened to the general category.
This was in response to a controversy surrounding new draft guidelines on the implementation of reservation in higher education, made public by the UGC last month for feedback.
A chapter in the draft guidelines suggests that reserved posts could be dereserved in “exceptional cases”, leading to a public outcry.
What are the UGC’s new draft guidelines on implementation of reservation, and what prompted the higher education regulator to issue a statement that practically negates a whole chapter of the guidelines? We explain.
Why did UGC issue the guidelines?
The University Grants Commission already has guidelines for implementing reservations, issued in 2006. About a year ago, the higher education regulator assigned a four-member committee the task of working on a new draft that would incorporate all updated government instructions.
The committee was led by HS Rana, the Director of the Institute of Public Administration in Bangalore. Professor DK Verma, the Director and Dean of the School of Social Sciences at Dr BR Ambedkar University of Social Sciences in Madhya Pradesh; former government officer OP Shukla; and UGC Joint Secretary GS Chauhan were the other members.
“Since the 2006 guidelines, there have been changes, including new DoPT circulars based on court orders. It was observed that there was considerable confusion regarding the existing rules on implementing reservations. The objective was to develop a fresh set of guidelines that would clarify the latest government position,” said one of the committee members, on the condition of anonymity.
This exercise by the UGC was similar to what the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) undertakes from time to time to ensure that the government’s updated instructions are followed regarding the implementation of reservations.
The draft guidelines formulated by the UGC committee were made public on December 27, with public feedback sought by January 28. The document lists all pertinent court cases and subsequent government orders that have tweaked or clarified the process of implementation reservation in higher education. It is organised into chapters covering the determination of quotas in faculty posts, the preparation of reservation rosters, de-reservation, verification of caste claims, and reservation in student admissions.
It was the chapter on de-reservation that sparked controversy on Sunday, after it went viral on social media.
The chapter states that while there is a general ban on the dereservation of reserved faculty vacancies in the case of direct recruitment, in exceptional circumstances, it can be done if a university can provide adequate justification. In this context, direct recruitment means the process of appointing teachers by inviting applications after publicly advertising the posts.
Dereservation, on the other hand, means opening up faculty positions that were originally reserved for specific categories (SC, ST, OBC, EWS candidates) to applicants belonging to the general category if those positions remain vacant despite efforts to fill them.
The draft guidelines specify that proposals for dereservation of Group A and Group B level jobs should be submitted to the Education Ministry, while proposals for Group C and D level posts should be forwarded to the Executive Council, the highest decision-making body of the university, for special permission.
In a university, all faculty positions (assistant professor, associate professor, and professor) fall under Group A. Section officers in a higher education institution typically hold Group B level positions, clerks and junior assistants fall under Group C, and multitasking staff, such as peons, are classified under Group D.
According to the draft UGC guidelines, the proposal for dereservation would need to include information such as the designation, pay scale, name of the service, responsibilities, required qualifications, efforts made to fill the post, and reasons why it cannot be allowed to remain vacant in the public interest.
Why did this chapter cause an outcry?
In current academic practice, reserved faculty positions are not converted to recruit general candidates. Although the DoPT permits dereservation in exceptional circumstances exclusively for Group A posts under the central government, this provision has not been implemented in higher education institutions. According to a former UGC officer who did not wish to be identified, unfilled quota positions in universities are re-advertised and special recruitment drives are carried out till suitable candidates are identified.
In fact, even in replies to questions asked in Parliament, the Education Ministry’s official position is that “there is a ban on dereservation of reserved vacancies for SC, ST, and OBC in direct recruitment.”
The draft UGC guidelines were basically seen to be paving the way for dereservation in faculty positions, and this caused the outcry.
When asked this question, a committee member told The Indian Express, “The committee is not empowered to change the law of the land. We can’t bring new provisions. We were just reiterating what is already permitted by the DoPT. These (DoPT) circulars are in the public domain.”
While it is true that the language of the dereservation chapter in the draft UGC guidelines is nearly identical to that used in the DOPT’s compendium of instructions issued in 2022, there’s a significant difference as well.
According to the DOPT handbook, dereservation is only permitted for direct recruitment for Group A posts in exceptional circumstances. In contrast, the draft UGC guidelines extend this provision to posts of Grade B, C, and D as well. The reason for this extension by the committee is not clear.
What was the government’s reaction?
On Sunday, when the dereservation chapter went viral on social media, the government swiftly took action to control the damage. The Ministry of Education issued a clarification stating there is no new instruction permitting dereservation.
The ministry said on X, “Reservation in Central Educational Institutions (CEI) 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. The Ministry of Education has given directives to all the CEIs to fill up the vacancies strictly as per the 2019 ACT.”
UGC chairman M Jagadesh Kumar wrote on X (formerly Twitter) Sunday, “This is to clarify that there has been no dereservation of reserved category positions in Central Education Institutions (CEI) 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 reserved categories are filled through concerted efforts.”
Speaking to The Indian Express, Kumar said that the guidelines were only a draft document and that anything on dereservation will not make it to the final document.
