DUTA seeks Rahul's help to resolve issue of reservation for SC/ST candidates for teaching posts

The Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) today met Congress president Rahul Gandhi, seeking his intervention to resolve the issue of reservation for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes candidates for teaching posts.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) in a circular on March 5 notified that fresh reservation rosters for the scheduled castes/scheduled tribes category has to be prepared keeping department/subject as a unit instead of university/college.

"The delegation appraised Gandhi of the implications of the 5th March letter from the UGC, asking for implementation of department/subject-wise roster, instead of the current practice of taking the university/college as a unit. This would lead to a drastic reduction in the number of reserved positions as is already seen from the advertisements that have come out," DUTA president Rajib Ray said in a statement.

Gandhi promised to help them in every possible way to get the matter resolved, he added.

"He also assured the delegation that his party would look into the issues of graded autonomy as well as all other policy issues that threaten the existence of public-funded education in the country," Ray said.

The memorandum seeks Gandhi's intervention in withdrawing the UGC notification, issual of an unambiguous directive to all the universities to adhere to the reservation roster that is based on the institution as a unit as laid down in the UGC Guidelines of 2006.

It also seeks immediate resumption of the process of permanent recruitment on the basis of posts already advertised as per the 200-point Reservation Roster based on college/university as a unit.