NEW DELHI: Union Human Resources Development Ministry has sought legal advice from Attorney General K K Venugopal following a rap from Allahabad High Court, which said that no decision over a reservation policy with regard to faculty quota in universities cannot be a ground for stalling appointments.
There have not been any appointments in either central or state varsities in the country since July 18, when the University Grants Commission, following protests from backward communities, put on hold its earlier decision to implement the department-wise reservation roster that it had notified in March.
The March order came following approval from the HRD ministry, as the Allahabad high court, in April 2017, had struck down a UGC circular prescribing institution-wise reservation to fill vacant faculty positions. The court observed that there are departments without any SC/ST teachers.
The Supreme Court later upheld the high court order, prompting the UGC, the regulator for universities and colleges in India, to send a proposal to the HRD ministry stating that the number of reserved posts in SC/ST and other backward class categories should be done department-wise.
The new rules, once in practice, meant that departments with few number of vacancies would not have any reserved seats at all, which angered the backward communities.
“We have received a copy of the Allahabad high court order and have promptly sought the AG’s opinion on this,” a senior official in the higher education department of the HRD Ministry said.
Appointments stalled
There have not been any appointments in either central or state varsities in the country since July 18, when the University Grants Commission, after protests from backward communities, put on hold its decision to implement the department-wise quota roster