The Ambedkar Students’ Association staged a protest at the Pondicherry Central University on Thursday, demanding the implementation of Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act in PhD admissions.
Sivachandiran, president of the association, said members of Students Federation of India (SFI) also joined the protest. “The university has violated the Act and not followed the roster system to implement the reservation policy in PhD admission,” he said.
The Pondicherry University had sought legal opinion and the admission process has been stalled for almost a month. “The administration has not revealed any details on the legal opinion. They have told us that we have to approach the MHRD,” Mr. Sivachandiran said.
A staff of the university said that the administration has systematically denied opportunities for students of marginalised communities in higher education till date.
Appalled by the low intake of SC/ST students in the PhD programme in Pondicherry Central University, the Pondicherry University SC/ST Employees Welfare Association and the Ambedkar Students’ Association have raised concern over the violation of the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation of Admissions) Act – 2006.
According to information secured through the RTI Act, the intake of SC/ST students over a period of 10 years from 2005 was found to be low in many departments.
A staff at the Pondicherry University said that the Pondicherry Central University was violating the Act and UGC directions. The Act was communicated by the UGC to the university for immediate implementation on January 8, 2007 and September 28, 2012. However, the university has so far opted not to implement the Act.
Even in the admissions under way for the academic year 2016-17, the university has chosen to overrule the UGC Under-Secretary’s communication dated June 3, 2016 that directed the Central universities to maintain the point-wise reservation roster. The university had only called candidates belonging to OBC and general category for interview for PhD where the number of students intake is less than four.
In a memorandum submitted to the University Registrar, the protestors have demanded the university to immediately adopt the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006 and Amendment–2012 and set right the anomaly in the intake of PhD students in each department.
The Registrar of the university was not available for comments.
New mechanism
The Hyderabad Central University and the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) have devised a mechanism to ensure reservation for the marginalised groups in their admission process.
K. Satyanarayana, professor, EFLU, said that Central universities are mandated to follow the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation) Act, 2006.
“If there are less than four vacancies in a department, they should wait for another year to call for seats. This will ensure that the reservation policy is followed,” he said.
