A large number of SC /ST posts remain unfilled in government
20 Sep, 2013A NGO, Asian Centre for Human Rights, has claimed that 27,488 government jobs reserved for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes are lying vacant. Out of these, 6,961 for scheduled castes, 12,195 are reserved for scheduled tribes and 8,332 for other backward castes.
Their report titled “India's Unfinished Agenda for Inclusion: A study on denial of reservation to the tribals in the government services and posts” alleges that the central universities are the most discriminatory against these communities. The estimated population of scheduled tribes in India is over 840 million.
The high number of unfilled vacancies raises several questions. On the basis of information provided by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to an application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, it has been contended that the low level of SC/ ST faculty members is a reflection of the opposition to the reservation policy. In the universities under the central government, the faculty position was as under:-
- 2006-07 : 46 ST professors against the sanctioned posts of 1,187 and 18 readers against 1,744 posts
- 2010-11 : 4 ST professors against the sanctioned posts of1,667 and 10 ST readers against 3,155 posts