Demands for restoring university-wise roster system

Former union minister of state for human resource development (HRD) Upendra Kushwaha on Wednesday demanded that the government bring a law to reverse the Allahabad High Court judgement, which favoured department-wise roster system for filling up vacancies in universities in 2017.

The Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) pressed its demand for reversal of the court's order either by enacting a law or promulgating an ordinance to restore university-wise roster system for filling up vacant posts of teachers.

The university teachers claimed that the department-wise roster system will deny jobs to SC, ST and OBC candidates as the number of vacant posts would drop if a university-wise roster is not maintained for filling up the posts.

The demand grew shriller a day after the Supreme Court declined to intervene in the 2017 Allahabad High Court judgement which had quashed a UGC guideline to treat a central university as a unit for filling up vacant posts of teachers and thereby providing quota for SC, ST and OBC candidates.

The HRD ministry has prepared a draft bill to restore university-wise roster system. The bill awaits Union cabinet's nod.

Pressing for introducing the bill in the upcoming session of Parliament, Kushwaha in a letter to HRD minister Prakash Javadekar urged that the bill should provide for 200 point institution-wise roster system for the appointment of teachers.

“The bill should cover all teaching posts and higher education institutions, including AIIMS, IITs, IIMs and NITs,” he sought.

Kushwaha, Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) chief, who snapped ties with the NDA to join the Opposition camp ahead of Lok Sabha polls, also pitched for making a mandatory provision for including SC, ST, OBC representatives on the board of governors and executive councils of institutions as well as on the selection panels for filling teaching and non-teaching posts.

Denying rights

“Department/Subject-wise roster is a way to deny constitutionally mandated percentages for SC/ST/OBC. This change will marginalise teachers and researchers from SC/ST/OBC background who have worked hard to be part of the mainstream,” DUTA president Rajib Ray said.

Any change in the roster will see “displacement of thousands of ad hoc teachers” in the Delhi University, who are employed against 200 point roster treating College/University as a unit, he said.