Editor's Pick: Reservation in name only

The Hindu Newsletter - Newsletter - subject [The Hindu Logo]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Youtube]( [Linkedin]( [Instagram]( Tuesday 16, March 2021 [alt_text]( Editor's Pick Reservation in name only [alt_text]( (The Editor's Pick is a new newsletter from The Hindu that provides a snapshot of the most important stories from today's edition of our newspaper, along with a note from our top editors on why we chose to give prominence to these stories.) In a written response to a question from three Congress MPs, [Education Minister Naresh Pokhriyal](told the Lok Sabha that half of the faculty positions reserved for OBCs in central institutions of higher education are vacant, while about 40% of those reserved for Scheduled Castes and Tribes also remain unfilled. Nowhere is this situation more acute than in the elite Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), where more than 60% of SC and OBC reserved positions are vacant, while almost 80% of positions reserved for STs have not been filled. This means that out of 24 positions reserved for STs, only five have been filled. For the [Indian Institutes of Technology]( (IITs), data has only been provided for non-faculty positions. Both IITs and IIMs have been lobbying for exemption from such faculty quota requirements. When it comes to the Central Universities, Mr Pokhriyal provided more data in reply to another MP question to show that vacancies are higher at the level of professors. Out of 709 assistant professor positions reserved for STs at the 42 universities, more than 500 have been filled. However, when it comes to professors, only nine positions have been filled out of the 137 reserved for ST candidates. 93% of these posts still remain unfilled and less than 1% of the 1,062 professors in central universities are from ST communities. Similarly, less than 5% of the 378 professor positions reserved for OBCs have been filled. In the second response, the Minister sought to put the final blame on the universities themselves, saying that the Ministry of Education and University Grants Commission (UGC) continuously monitor vacancies. In June 2019, the UGC had in fact, written to all Universities, giving them a[six-month deadline to fill up the vacancies](, and warning that grants would be withheld if its directions were violated. On that occasion, it had also asked the institutes to display the reservation roster on their website. The 2019 UGC directive followed reporting once again on the high number of such vacancies in central universities. Compliance and implementation however seems to be a far more systemic challenge. That marks this story out as our top pick of the day. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor's Pick and more. [Click here]( Try out The Hindu's daily news quiz Who, on March 14, became the first Indian fencer to qualify for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics? 1. Shilpa Garg 2. Bindu Devi 3. Karan Singh 4. CA Bhavani Devi To find out the answer and play the full quiz, [click here]( The Big Story [Over 60% OBC, SC positions vacant in IIMs]( [alt_text]( From the Front Page [alt_text]( [Batla House encounter | Accused gets death penalty for killing inspector]( [alt_text]( [TN elections | Palaniswami, Stalin file nominations]( From the Opinion Pages [alt_text]( [Reinventing radical politics, by looking Left]( [alt_text]( [An odd political hybridisation, with historical precedent]( Today's Editorials [Kerala triangle: On Kerala Assem](bly elections [Poll position: On SC order on lo](cal body elections You are receiving this email because you are a user of [thehindu.com]( If you do not wish to receive any such emails, [unsubscribe here.](mailto:rm-0bfag628bf2f90kaup33rtbysa8hk3m@newsalert.thehindu.com?subject=Unsubscribe&body=You will be unsubscribed from our mailing list.) To ensure you continue to receive emails from The Hindu in your inbox, please add newsletters.th@newsalert.thehindu.com to your contact. If you can't see the mailer, please [click here.]( Group Sites [The Hindu]( | [இந்து தமிழ் திசை]( | [Business Line]( | [BL on Campus]( | [Sportstar]( | [Frontline]( | [The Hindu Centre]( | [Images]( | [roofandfloor]( | [Classifieds]( Copyright @ 2021 ,THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. [About Us]( | [Contact Us]( | [Digital Subscription](