The IITs have managed to get the Human Resource Development Ministry to drop its proposal to reserve posts for SCs,STs and OBCs in faculty recruitment. The plan was strongly opposed by IITs which felt this would hit faculty quality they even took it up with the Prime Minister and that seems to have turned the tide in their favour.
The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Reservation in posts and services) Bill,2008 moved by the Department of Personnel and Training in the Rajya Sabha in December 2008 has listed IITs among institutes of national importance which can be exempted from reservation of posts.
The 47 institutes that will skip faculty reservation once the legislation gets Parliamentary approval it is expected next month include the seven older IITs,the seven IIMs,Aligarh Muslim University,Allahabad University,AIIMS.
Also excluded from the faculty reservation ambit are 19 National Institutes of Technology (NITs),Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research in Pondicherry,Banaras Hindu University,Delhi University,Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh,Visva Bharati in West Bengal,Victoria Memorial,National Library,Indian Museum,all in Kolkata,and the Indian War Memorial in New Delhi.
The legislation is pending Parliamentary approval and exempts institutes of excellence from reserving posts and the IITs are among these. Once Parliament approves the Bill in February,this reservation-in-faculty issue should be sorted out, said R P Agrawal,Secretary,Higher Education,HRD Ministry. He was speaking on the sidelines of the IIT Council meet in Delhi.