HRD: faculty quota at IITs will be reviewed yearly, no compromise on merit

However, there is a window of hope, insisted IIT faculty members at the June meeting of the Standing Committee – the HRD Ministry has agreed to a provision which says that “quotas can’t be in perpetuity and be reviewed annually, and if a seat is not filled by worthy SC/ST/OBC candidates, they will be de-reserved from next year.”

A director of an IIT, who did not wish to be identified, told The Indian Express, “When the SCIC met the HRD ministry officials in February this year, they recommended that while the IITs would adopt the reservation orders, a provision should assure that the reservation not be kept in perpetuity but be reviewed annually. If no candidate from the reserved category is found worthy of the faculty positions, it will be de-reserved next year. The HRD Ministry, in its orders sent in June, has accepted this recommendation.”

An IIT professor who also did not wish to be named added that the selection standards for faculty at the institutes are still very stringent. “The reservation will allow a larger number of candidates from reserved categories to be eligible for faculty positions. However, that does not mean that they will also be selected if they do not make the cut. We don’t think the move will lower our academic standards,” he said.

There are 25-30 per cent vacancies in faculty positions across all IITs at present and the figure is likely to rise with new institutes being created.

The professor informed, “IITs have had reservations in faculty since 1974 after an order from the Department of Personnel and Training on SC/ST reservations. Then the orders came in 1989/90 for OBC reservations as well. What we were thinking was that the new reservation proposal meant that it was only for entry-level cadre as lecturers.”

When contacted, HRD Ministry officials said that the new orders are part of a process that started last year.

“There is already a provision for reserved categories in the faculty of IITs and it is only more clearly mentioned and detailed now. The new orders this month have come only after discussions with IIT faculty members and academicians,” said a senior official from the HRD Ministry.