Not a single reserved post will be de-reserved: Pradhan on UGC draft guidelines row

Not a single reserved post will be de-reserved: Pradhan on UGC draft guidelines row

New Delhi, Jan 28 (PTI) Amid a controversy over UGC’s draft guidelines on filling of reserved posts in higher education institutes, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday clarified that not a single post will be de-reserved.

Pradhan said there is no scope of ambiguity in reservations after introduction of the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers’ Cadre) Act, 2019.

“Not a single reserved post will be de-reserved. There is no scope for ambiguity after the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers’ Cadre) Act, 2019,” Pradhan told PTI.

The draft guidelines by the University Grants Commission (UGC) have proposed that any vacancy reserved for SC, ST and OBC candidates can be “declared unreserved” if enough candidates from these categories are not available.

The draft guidelines have been receiving backlash from several quarters. The Congress alleged there is a “conspiracy” to end reservation given to SCs, STs and OBCs in posts in higher educational institutions and that the Modi government is only doing “politics of symbolism” on the issues of Dalits, backward classes and tribals.

The JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) has announced a protest against it and will burn an effigy of UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar.