Ordinance to undo UGC quota circular planned

The government may issue an ordinance to override the Allahabad high court verdict and restore the earlier SC/ST reservation formula for university faculties. After high-level discussions at the HRD ministry and the UGC this week, the government decided to promulgate an ordinance, ET has learnt. Post-HC verdict, all faculty appointments have come to a standstill as the Supreme Court is still hearing the appeal.

The move follows Parliament passing a bill in the just-concluded monsoon session that restored original provisions of the SC/ST atrocity law. The BJP-led Centre came under pressure after a March 5 UGC order asked all central, state and deemed to be universities getting grants-in-aid to implement SC/ST quota for teachers’ posts department-wise in keeping with the 2017 Allahabad HC order.

The high court had struck down a UGC circular on institution-wise quota to fill vacant SC/ST posts, pointing out that there were departments without any SC/ST teachers. The Allahabad high court order was upheld by the Supreme Court.


In March, UGC stirred the hornet’s nest when it issued a fresh order with new clauses that asked for a department-wise roster system for all levels of teachers. The UGC communication also asked each institute to prepare a fresh roster within a month to implement the new quota system for faculty appointments.

The UGC order sparked an instant backlash in the university system. The HRD ministry assessments show that implementing SC/ST quota on basis of departments rather than university would possibly bring down reserved posts by 50-60%.

Considering that reserved faculty posts are already vacant in huge numbers, the new policy is likely to further shrink representation of marginalised sections across the university system.

The parliamentary committee on the SC/ST welfare immediately took cognisance of the issue and red flagged it to HRD minister Prakash Javadekar and all other stakeholder ministries.

A 10-member inter-ministerial committee was set up to look into the issue in March itself and this panel recommended that a review petition be filed in the SC to undo the UGC’s order.

The same was done, but it is yet to be resolved. Hearings were held on July 20 and most recently on August 13, only to be put off until October 12.

The delay is causing considerable heartburn among SCs/STs and has also brought faculty appointment processes to a grinding halt due to lack of clarity on the reservation formula to be followed. It is estimated that over 5,000 seats are lying vacant mainly because of confusion over the quota system.