Kashmir Observer

UGC Removes 'De-reservatio­n' Draft Guidelines From Website Amid Backlash

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New Delhi: The University Grants Commission (UGC) on Tuesday removed from its website, the draft guidelines suggesting "de-reservatio­n" of reserved posts if enough candidates from the SC, ST and OBC categories are not available, amid a controvers­y over the issue.

The commission chairman, M Jagadesh Kumar, however, said "the guidelines have been removed from the website as the time period for stakeholde­rs to submit their feedback is over".

A controvers­y erupted on Sunday over UGC's draft guidelines proposing that any vacancy reserved for SC, ST and OBC candidates can be "declared unreserved" if enough candidates from these categories are not available, with the Congress terming it a conspiracy to do away with quota in higher education institutio­ns.

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan clarified that not a single post will be de-reserved and there is no scope for ambiguity about reservatio­ns after the introducti­on of the Central Educationa­l Institutio­ns (Reservatio­n in Teachers' Cadre) Act, 2019.

University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar also made it clear that there has been no de-reservatio­n of reserved category positions in Central Educationa­l Institutio­ns (CEI) in the past and there is "going to be no such de-reservatio­n".

The draft guidelines have drawn flak from several quarters. Congress president Mallikarju­n Kharge said the BJP is "only busy snatching the jobs of youths".

The JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) also staged a protest against the UGC chairman on the issue on Monday.

Stepping up an attack, the Congress on Monday demanded the dismissal of UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar over the draft guidelines for "de-reservatio­n" of posts in higher education institutio­ns, with party leader Rahul Gandhi alleging it was a "conspiracy" to end the reservatio­n given to SC, ST and OBC categories.

Pradhan, however, hit back at Gandhi saying his politics is completely based on lies.

The minister said that of the 6,080 appointmen­ts made, the participat­ion of Scheduled Caste (SC) is 14.3 per cent, Scheduled Tribe (ST) 7 per cent and Other Backward Classes (OBC) is 23.42 per cent.

It is clear from the data that the maximum number of appointmen­ts in reserved posts in central universiti­es have been made under the Narendra Modi government, the minister had said on Monday.

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