Reservation in faculty posts: Haryana Central University appoints 28 teachers as HRD awaits SC decision

The Central University of Haryana (CUH) has appointed 28 teachers even though faculty recruitment was put on hold by the Union government on July 19, pending a decision from the Supreme Court (SC) on its plea against the Allahabad High Court order that effectively curtailed the number of reserved posts for SC/ST and OBC teachers in higher education.

The appointments were made in August after an interim order of Punjab and Haryana High Court permitted CUH to recruit teachers, subject to the result of HRD Ministry’s Special Leave Petition (SLP) in SC. Out of the 28 teachers, eight have been appointed as professors and remaining as associate professors. All posts belong to the general category.

Objecting to this, Rajya Sabha MP from RJD Manoj Kumar Jha has written to HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar, asking the Centre to act before other universities use the interim order to “resume their recruitment process, thereby influencing the SLP in Supreme Court”. Jha told The Indian Express Tuesday that he has not received a reply.

CUH Registrar Ram Dutt confirmed that 28 teachers have been appointed. “We have done it only after the High Court gave us relief. The university has kept the ministry and UGC informed,” he said.

“Even though we have a large number of posts vacant, we have ensured that teachers were employed only in posts that fall in the unreserved category, both, under the 200-point roster and 14-point roster. So, irrespective of the final court verdict, these appointments will remain unaffected,” he added.

The RJD MP, however, disagrees with the university’s stand. “This is fallacious argument. We want that after the (Supreme) court’s final verdict in this matter (HRD Ministry’s SLP), every teacher appointment should be revisited.”

The interim order of Punjab and Haryana High Court takes cognizance of the fact that UGC had directed all universities to put faculty recruitment on hold on July 19. However, the court felt a blanket direction could end up hurting universities like CUH suffering from acute faculty shortage.

Justifying the interim order, Judge Rajiv Narain Raina wrote on July 31, “This order has proceeded on the alarming reason that 83 vacancies (in CUH) at the level of Associate Professor(s)/ Professor(s) are yet to be filled and cannot be due to the stay order. If such large number of vacancies in the rank of Associate Professors and Professors are vacant, it may ultimately undermine the public image of the university…”

The HRD Ministry filed an SLP with the SC in April this year following a political furore over UGC’s March 5 order announcing that the number of reserved faculty posts across universities and colleges shall be calculated department-wise and not based on the aggregate vacant posts. The change, first reported by The Indian Express on October 23, 2017, was based on a verdict of the Allahabad High Court in April last year.

Reservation based on department or subject as a unit meant that departments with single post cadres — usually the position of a professor — will be outside the purview of reservation. This would drastically reduce the number of SC, ST and OBC teachers in higher education.

In the first proof of how UGC’s order could shrink the number of SC, ST and OBC teachers, Banaras Hindu University told the government that its total teaching posts for SC candidates would be reduced by half, those for STs by almost 80 per cent and for OBC teachers by 30 per cent if it were to implement the UGC’s new formula.

Under attack, the government filed an SLP with the apex court against the Allahabad High Court order. Although the government hasn’t withdrawn the controversial UGC order, on July 19, under political pressure from NDA allies, it asked all universities to put their recruitment on hold till the Supreme Court decides its SLP.
News Source (Indian Express)