DUTA Press Release: 2 July 2019

DUTA welcomes passing of Bill on Reservation in Lok Sabha









The DUTA welcomes the passing of the Central Educational Institutions Reservation in Teaching Cadre Bill 2019 that was passed in the Lok Sabha yesterday. The Bill restores the principle of taking the University/ College as a unit for determining number of reserved posts, which had come under attack with the 5 March 2018 UGC notification mandating department/ subject wise reservation following the Supreme Court judgement. The impact of the above notification was immediately seen in a drastic reduction of representation of SC/ ST/ OBCs in teaching posts across the country.


Following a country wide agitation, the Government was forced to withdraw the Notification and promulgate an Ordinance which is now replaced by the Bill. 


The DUTA congratulates teachers, students and members of civil society from across the country who came forward to fight this pernicious move to undermine the constitutionally mandated provision for reservation for SC/ST/OBC categories. The DUTA sees this victory as a victory for the fight for social justice. 


The Bill also brings in its purview reservation for EWS which was absent in the existing Ordinance. The DUTA reiterates its demand that the additional posts on account of expansion of student intake due to EWS reservation must be immediately sanctioned so that teachers working currently on ad-hoc basis are not rendered jobless. Further, the DUTA also reiterates its demand for the removal of the irrationality in the criteria for determining EWS. The current criteria makes persons from EWS ineligible for reappointment to the same post or a permanent post or any other Government job. 


In view of maintaining standards in higher education, specially when students from deprived sections are being admitted, the DUTA believes that the Government must ensure the release of the second tranche of posts promised in 2007 for implementation of OBC reservation. Further, the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) introduced in 2015 also requires additional teachers and infrastructure for its implementation.