In the 45 central universities across India, only two vice-chancellors belong to the historically-marginalised Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities.
In response to a question in the Lok Sabha, Subhash Sarkar, the Minister of State for Education, revealed that as of April 1, 2023, across the 45 central universities, one vice-chancellor is from the SC community, one from the ST community, and five from the OBC (Other Backward Class) community.
Additionally, over 5,000 teaching posts and 15,390 non-teaching posts are lying vacant in the central universities.
Last year too, the picture was similar as per data from the Ministry of Education — one vice-chancellor was from the SC community, one from the ST community and seven from the OBC community across all central universities, reported PTI in August 2022.
The representation of marginalised communities in higher teaching positions at central universities is relatively low, according to data shared by the minister. Among the total of 1,341 professors, there are only 96 from the SC community and 22 from the ST community. Similarly, at the associate professor level, out of 2,817 positions, 231 belong to SC and 69 to ST. At the assistant professor level, among 8,940 positions, 1,094 belong to SC and 534 to ST.
At the administrative level too, the numbers are limited. Only two registrars come from the SC community, two from the ST community, and three from the OBC community.
As per a senior professor from Banaras Hindu University, the low representation of SC and ST communities can be attributed to the methodology of recruitment.
"A lot of times recruitments not just happen on merit but also political recommendations. Further as per the Supreme Court guidelines, a VC needs to have 10 years of teaching experience … and 10 years ago there weren't many teachers from the marginalised communities in central universities," he said on condition of anonymity.
Notably, as per the University Grants Commission (UGC), reservation in admissions and recruitments in teaching and non-teaching posts is supposed to be 15 percent for SC and 7.5 percent for ST
Additionally, one needs at least 10 years of experience as a professor to be eligible for the post of VC in a central university.
Vacant positions in central universities
In a separate response, the minister mentioned that as of April 1, 5,825 teaching posts and 15,390 non-teaching posts are lying vacant in central universities under the purview of the Ministry of Education.
"Occurring of vacancies and filling thereof is a continuous process. The vacancies arise due to retirement, resignation and additional requirements on account of enhanced students’ strength," added the Minister.
He added that as of date, more than 4,000 teaching posts and 1,500 non-teaching posts have been filled under the ongoing ‘Mission’ mode recruitment drive.
Notably, the Centre informed the Parliament in March, 2023, that there are almost 4,000 vacancies for reserved teaching posts from the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, OBC and the disabled categories in 45 central universities across India.
