Quota in faculty positions: Government panel seeks waiver for IITs, panel writes to Ministry

Last year, the committee was set up by the MoE to look into “effective implementation of reservation” in student admissions and faculty positions at IITs.

The National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) has sought an inquiry into a complaint against a government-appointed committee that has recently suggested that IITs shall be exempted from reserving faculty positions. 

On January 5, the Commission wrote to Amit Khare, Higher Education Secretary in the Ministry of Education (MoE), seeking a compliance report within 15 days of the letter’s receipt. As per the sources, the ministry received the letter on Monday. NCBC’s letter takes cognizance of a complaint filed by Dharmendra Kumar, president of the Technical Universities Teachers Association (TUTA), last month. In his complaint, Kumar requested the Commission “to do the needful” to ensure that the government does not accept the committee’s recommendation.

Last year, the committee was set up by the MoE to look into “effective implementation of reservation” in student admissions and faculty positions at IITs. Instead of implementing quotas in faculty positions, the panel had suggested that the 23 IITs should be exempted from reservations altogether under the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers’ Cadre) Act 2019.

Rather than specific quotas, diversity issues should be addressed through outreach campaigns and targeted faculty recruitment, the panel had said in its report to the government.

The report stated that IITs should be added to the list of “Institutions of Excellence” mentioned in the Schedule to the CEI Act. Section 4 of the Act exempts “institutions of excellence, research institutions, institutions of national and strategic importance” mentioned in the Schedule and minority institutions from providing reservation.

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, National Brain Research Centre, North-Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Science, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Physical Research Laboratory, Space Physics Laboratory, Indian Institute of Remote Sensing and Homi Bhabha National Institute and all its 10 constituent units are covered under Section 4 of the law.

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