Oppn demand Ordinance against department-wise quota for teachers

The Opposition parties mounted pressure on the Modi government to promulgate an Ordinance to overrule a court direction for department-wise reservation in the appointment of University teachers across the country.

Backing the teaching community, the Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) and other Left parties on Monday appealed to President Ram Nath Kovind to intervene “to end the crisis.”

Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Member of Parliament Udit Raj joined the chorus, supporting the teachers' demand to reverse the new formula for implementation of quota in appointments.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) directed all universities and colleges in March to implement quota in the appointment of faculty department-wise, instead of university-wise.

The higher education regulator issued a directive almost a year after the Allahabad High Court ordered considering an institution's department as a unit while making appointment of SC (scheduled caste) and ST (scheduled tribe) faculty members against the quota provided for them, instead of the prevalent norm of considering the institution as a unit for enumerating vacant positions.

The Supreme Court also upheld the Allahabad High Court's verdict last year.

Addressing a joint press conference with Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA), Congress spokesperson Susmita Dev expressed her party's support to the demand of the University teachers.

CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury and RJD's Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha demanded that the Modi government promulgate an Ordinance to reverse the court's verdict and protect the constitutional rights of the marginalised sections.

“The March 5 notification of the UGC is an attack on the reservation policy. If this new roster system is implemented, it will push a large number of teachers from ST, SC, OBC background out of the universities. This is also an attack on the job prospects of Dalit-Adivasi students,” they said in a joint appeal to the President.

The Union government has filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court seeking review of the apex court decision upholding the Allahabad HC's verdict.

The Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and the Central University of Rajasthan have already invited applications for filling up vacant positions of teachers under the quota formula.

The two universities have gone ahead with the appointments even after the UGC informed them in April that an SLP had been filed in SC against the Allahabad HC verdict.