DU faculty held candle light march for ordinance to restore 200-point quota roster

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 28

Disappointed with the Supreme Court’s ruling, Delhi University faculty carried out a candle light march on Monday on North Campus to draw the attention of the central government and urging Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar to to bring an ordinance to restore 200-point roster in faculty recruitments expressing concern that the department-wise or 13-point roster will drastically reduce the posts under the reserved categories. The colleagues from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Indraprastha and Ambedkar Universities have already extended support to the DU teachers.

Protests have been underway in DU since the Supreme Court last Tuesday upheld the Allahabad High Court verdict to implement the department-wise reservation roster for teaching posts dismissing the Central government’s special leave petition (SLP) against it.

Upset with the apex court’s ruling, DU faculty — cutting across political leanings — have written to Javadekar saying switching to the new reservation roster as per UGC notification dated March 5 will defeat the purpose of the country’s reservation policy as in order to meet the same each department has to have at least 14 posts.

DU Academic Council member Dr Hansraj Suman, maintained if the new roster system will be implemented it will jeopardise the future of existing ad-hoc teachers both belonging to reserved and general category.

In his representation to Javadekar, he also proposed that MPs from various political parties should be called to discuss the reservation roster issue in the light of SC order and make their stand clear. This is significant as the Centre is faced with the risk of further distancing itself from the reserved sections ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

The apex court's order has dashed the hopes of teachers across the country and if the new roster is implemented, it may lead to mass displacement of teachers, said DU Executive Council member Dr Rajesh Jha at a time when around 4,000 ad-hoc teachers in DU are awaiting absorption.

DU Teachers’ Association (DUTA) president Prof Rajib Ray said after the SC’s dismissal of the central government’s petition all central, state universities and deemed to be universities receiving grant-in-aid will have to go-ahead with the department-wise roster as per the UGC notification dated March 5 and July 19, 2018.

“We have made submissions with ample evidence to show that constitutionally-mandated percentages of reservation cannot be met otherwise given the small size of the cadre strength in case each department of a university or each subject in a college is treated as the unit of reservation roster,” said Ray, who too has written to the HRD minister.

President of the National Democratic Teachers’ Front, backed by the ruling BJP, Dr Rakesh Kumar Pandey also wrote earlier asking the HRD minister to take serious attempt towards getting a one-time ordinance passed to facilitate absorption of ad hoc teachers in DU and another favouring college-wise roster.