Mumbai: The Union Ministry of Education (MoE) has been following up through a series of letters with the centrally-funded technical institutions (CFTI) for the implementation of reservations in faculty appointments.
According to information received under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, Hindustan Times has reported that three letters have been issued by the government asking the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) for speedy implementation of the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers Cadre) Act, 2019. The particular act allows flexible faculty cadre structure.
According to the RTI filed by an education activist wishing to remain anonymous, the first communication was on September 17, 2020. This was followed by a letter on February 10, 2021. The latest letter of the series was issued on July 16. The last letter reiterated the instructions to follow the reservations policy, reported HT.
The CFTIs follow a flexible cadre system, unlike other universities. This implies that the sanctioned faculty strength at different grades is not fixed. Faculty members get promoted from assistant to associate to professor positions during their career courses.
Till 2019, only entry-level assistant professors used to get reservations but the Central government has since extended the reservation policy to all positions.
For the record, not a single IIT among the 23 (data for IIT-Mandi was not available) has more than six Scheduled Tribe (ST) teachers. As many as 18 IITs have 10 or fewer faculty members from the Scheduled Caste (SC) category.
IIT-Bombay director Subhasis Chaudhuri confirmed to the national daily about receiving the letter. “Yes, there has been a letter from MoE in this regard, and since IITs follow a flexible cadre structure, we shall be seeking guidance from our board of governors on this,” the director was quoted as saying by HT.
IIT-Delhi director V Ramgopal Rao, too, admitted to having received letters from MoE.
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