Prakash Javadekar Assured About The Ordinance On Teacher Quota Soon

Supreme Court has rejected the government’s review petition against department-wise reservation in faculty positions last week. Javadekar assured that an ordinance is passed to restore the 200-point roster and would be brought in “two days”.
HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday, on a day that saw protests backed by tribal and Dalit rights outfits, reiterated the Union government’s commitment to the old formula for reservation in teaching jobs in higher education.
The apex court last week 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. It should be taken place by taking the total seats in a university as the basis. The judgment and subsequent UGC order of March 2018 taking into consideration the verdict had irked political parties with a substantial support base among SC/ST and OBC communities as it results in limited seats which are available for recruitment by each department under reserved categories.
The political furor forced the government to provide assurance on the floor of the House on February 8 that an ordinance would be brought to overturn the department-wise reservation or 13-point roster should the SC reject its review petition. Statement of Javadekar in New Delhi on Tuesday was a reiteration of this.
He said that he had promised in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha that if their review petition is turned down, they will take whatever legal options are available to them, appealing to protesters to wait. He added that we will get justice in two days, he can assure us that.
Javadekar’s Cabinet colleague and LJP president Ram Vilas Paswan in Patna also tried to calm tempers, making sure that the Centre would bring an ordinance in “two-three” days. He attributed the delay to the government is engaged with recent developments post-Pulwama attack.
The minister said that an ordinance would follow soon since the court verdict had come. He said that they want the 200-point roster system back, as the new system would deny reservation to candidates of OBC, EBC and SC/ST. As the 13-point system takes into consideration the vacancies in colleges or faculty-wise, not university-wise, there would not be enough vacancies in colleges to make sure previous 49.5 percent reservation. Now that the Centre has brought 10 % EWS quota, fairness would demand that reservation for OBC and SC/STs are protected by reverting to the 200-point roster system. Paswan said that there is no need. They have been demanding it all along. He is saying on behalf of the Centre that the ordinance will be brought in two-three days.
 
By: Preeti Narula

Content: https://indianexpress.com/article/education/ordinance-on-teacher-quota-soon-prakash-javadekar-5612884/lite/