More Than 60% SC, OBC Faculty Posts In IIMs Vacant: Union Education Minister

More than 60 per cent of the posts reserved for Other Backward Classes(OBCs) and Scheduled Caste(SC) faculty members at the Indian Institutes of Management across the country are vacant, and that number is more than 80% for faculty posts reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST).

The Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank revealed the data in a written response to a question asked by three Congress MPs in Lok Sabha.

The minister also pointed out that more than 50 per cent of faculty positions for OBCs remain vacant in all central higher education institutions on average, which is more than 40 per cent of posts for SCs and STs.

These vacancies are higher when it comes to the posts of professor within the Central Universities.

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. This means 93 per cent of these posts remain unfilled. Less than 1 per cent of the 1,062 professors in central universities are from ST communities, reported The Hindu.

However, Nishank's written response claims that reservations are being implemented across universities at all levels. "Now, after implementation of 'The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers' Cadre) Act, 2019', the OBC reservation has been implemented at all levels," the minister told Lok Sabha.

Nishank said that the onus of recruitment for the teaching posts lies with Central Universities, which are autonomous bodies created under Acts of Parliament.

The University Grants Commission had written to central universities, giving them a six-month deadline to fill vacancies or face their grants being withheld in 2019.

As per the latest data presented in the Lok Sabha on Monday, there are 6,074 vacant positions at the 42 universities, out of which 75 per cent are in reserved categories.