On a day that saw protests backed by tribal and Dalit rights outfits, HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday reiterated the Union government’s commitment to the old formula for reservation in teaching jobs for higher education.
After Supreme Court’s rejection for Government’s review petition against department – wise reservation for faculty positions last week, Prakaash Javadekar, the HRD Minister on Tuesday assured that an ordinance to restore the 200 – point roster would be brought in two days.
Last week, the apex court upheld the Allahabad High Court judgment favoring the 13-point roster for the third time. The HC had ruled that reservation in faculty positions in universities should be calculated department-wise and not by taking the total seats in a university as the basis. The judgment and subsequent UGC order of March 2018 implementing the verdict had displeased political parties with a substantial support base among SC/ST and OBC communities, because it results in limited seats available for recruitment by each department under reserved categories.
Since the Supreme Court rejected the petition Javadekar said,
“I had promised in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha that if our review petition is turned down, we will take whatever legal options are available to us,” he said, appealing to protesters to wait. “You will get justice in two days, I can assure you that.”
In Patna, Javadekar’s Cabinet colleague and LJP president Ram Vilas Paswan also tried to calm tempers of protestors assuring that the Centre would bring an ordinance in “two-three” days. He recognized the delay of government because of being busy with recent developments post-Pulwama attack.