Restore earlier system for employment opportunities to SC/STs in varsities: Rahul to Javadekar

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday wrote to HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar and urged him to revert to the system in which the college or the university was taken as a unit for the purpose of reservation.

Following an Allahabad High Court order - upheld by the Supreme Court - the University Grants Commission (UGC) had last year announced a new mechanism -- 13-point roster system -- for implementing faculty reservations, which was calculating total posts department-wise rather than institution-wise.

The adoption of the 13 point roster system in place of the 200 point roster system has "eroded" the spirit of reservation guaranteed under the Constitution, Gandhi said in his letter to Javadekar.

The departure from the 200 point roster system has led to widespread protests across the country and deserves urgent intervention, Gandhi said.

"You had recently stated in parliament that out of 158 faculty posts advertised by the central universities of Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Punjab, since March 5 2018, not even a single post was reserved for SCs and STs under the 13 point roster system. By your own ministry's admission, 43 posts would have reserved for SC/STs under the 200 point roster system," he said in the letter.

He urged Javadekar to restore the 200 point roster system.