New Delhi: About 55 percent of the sanctioned OBC posts in central universities across the country are lying vacant while the vacancies for the OBC category at Indian Institute for Science (IISc), Bangalore, are above 89 percent. These statistics were shared by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in a written response to a question in the Lok Sabha.
Moreover, vacant positions for ST and SC categories in 45 central universities are 38.71 percent and 41.64 percent respectively for IISc, the vacant posts for ST 54.7 percent and SC 20.2 percentage.
In the data Pradhan presented, the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) vacant posts for SC, ST and OBCs are 39.4 percent, 57.89 percent and 43.7 percent respectively.
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"The onus of filling up the vacant posts lies on Central Universities. Taking into account all the circumstances and in order to ensure the protection of the rights of SCs, STs, and OBCs in appointments, the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers' Cadre) Act, 2019 was notified on July 12, 2019, to provide reservation of posts in direct recruitment in teachers' cadre in Central Educational Institutions by considering the University as a Unit", PTI quoted Pradhan as saying.
"Now, after implementation of the Act, the OBC reservation has been implemented at all levels. Further, in June 2019, UGC has prepared the guidelines for recruitment of faculty in universities, colleges and institutions deemed to be universities outlining the selection procedure and the time frame for recruitment which has been circulated to all universities to adhere to the guidelines," he added.
This is despite, the minister mentioned the UGC on July 31, 2019, August 7, 2019, September 5, 2019, and October 22, 2019, requesting the universities to fill up the vacancies at the earliest.