Draft UGC Guidelines Over Dereservation Policy

Context: 

The policy to dereservation any reserved faculty positions in  UGC’s draft guidelines  has been scrapped as clarified by the Education Ministry and the University Grants Commission (UGC).

UGC Draft Guidelines Over Dereservation

• The ‘Final Draft Guidelines for Implementation of the Reservation Policy of the Government of India in Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) was released for public feedback by January 28. 
• The draft guidelines on implementing the reservation policy in higher education institutions 
• This draft is prepared by a four-member committee headed by the director of the Institute of Public Administration, Dr H S Rana.
• De-reservation in case of Promotion: In case of promotion, if sufficient number of SC/ST candidates fit for promotion against reserved vacancies are not available, such vacancies may be de-reserved and filled by the candidates of other communities.
  • The power to accord approval to dereservation of the reserved vacancies in such cases is delegated to the administrative Ministries and Departments

The Draft Guidelines 

• Chapter on dereservation of unfilled quota: It said that in exceptional circumstances  unfilled posts meant for teachers, officers, and employees of a university from the ST/SC and OBC category can be filled by General candidates, provided the university gives adequate justification for it.
• The proposal: It will consist of information such as the designation, pay scale, name of the service, responsibilities, required qualifications, efforts made to fill the post, and why it cannot be allowed to remain vacant.
  • Group A and B posts: Proposals for de-reservation should be submitted to the Education Ministry
  • Group C and D posts: Proposal should be  forwarded to the Executive Council (the top decision making body) of the university for special permission. 

Current Recruitment Policy

• As per the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers’ Cadre) Act, 2019 reservation in CEIs is provided for all posts in direct recruitment in the  teacher’s cadre 
• The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) permits de-reservation in exceptional circumstances exclusively for Group A posts but this provision has not been put into effect in universities. 
• Unfilled quota positions undergo re-advertisement, and universities organise special recruitment drives until suitable candidates are identified.

News Source: The Indian Express