"The onus of filling up the vacant posts lies on Central Universities," said Dharmendra Pradhan. File
Nearly 55 per cent of the sanctioned OBC posts in central universities across the country are lying vacant while the vacancies for the category at Indian Institute for Science (IISc), Bangalore, are above 89 per cent, according to Ministry of Education (MoE) data.
The statistics were shared by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in a written response to a question in the Lok Sabha.
In central universities, 38.71 per cent posts in the ST category and 41.64 per cent posts in the SC category are vacant. In IISc, 54.7 per cent posts in the ST category and 20.2 per cent in the SC category are vacant.
In Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs), the percentage of vacant posts in SC, ST and OBC categories are 39.4 per cent, 57.89 per cent and 43.7 per cent respectively, as per the data.
"The onus of filling up the vacant posts lies on Central Universities. Taking into account all the circumstances and in order to ensure protection of the rights of SCs, STs and OBCs in appointments, Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers'' Cadre) Act, 2019 was notified on July 12, 2019 to provide reservation of posts in direct recruitment in teachers' cadre in Central Educational Institutions by considering the University as a Unit.
"Now, after implementation of the Act, the OBC reservation has been implemented at all levels. Further, in June 2019, UGC has prepared the guidelines for recruitment of faculty in universities, colleges and institutions deemed to be universities outlining the selection procedure and the time frame for recruitment which has been circulated to all universities to adhere the guidelines," Mr Pradhan said.
The minister noted that the UGC on July 31, 2019, August 7, 2019, September 5, 2019 and October 22, 2019, has again requested the universities to fill up the vacancies at the earliest.