Ex-IAS officer flags communal roster violation in Bharathidasan University

Urges Chief Minister to constitute committee to examine the issue

Retired civil servant I.V. Manivannan has submitted a representation to the Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami alleging that the recruitment of teaching faculty in Bharathidasan University in Tiruchi was being undertaken in violation of the existing reservation policy in higher educational institutions.

Mr.Manivannan is incidentally the Governor-nominated member in the Syndicate of the University of Madras. He said while the State government had in August 2019 decided to consider each of the departments in all State-run universities as a unit to implement the communal roster during recruitment, the Bharathidasan University has taken a contrary stand.

The university has proposed recruitment of teaching faculty adopting the whole university as a unit for the purpose of reservation policy, the former Higher Education Secretary charged The proposed method was fraught with inherent drawbacks, demerits and disadvantageous to the members of various communities, besides providing scope favouritism and nepotism.

The number of vacancies indicated in the advertisement for recruitment has not been arrived at in consultation with Heads of Department of the University. Besides, the vacancies were not worked out with reference to the 200-point roster system prescribed by the Government in Personnel and Administrative Department, he said.

“The system proposed by Bharathidasan University ignores the interests of weaker sections, including Arunthathiyars. The eligible Arunthathiyar candidates, who have started receiving the benefits under 3% preferential reservation system,will be thrown out of the University System, and relegated to their original position,” he felt.

The circular of the University Grants Commission (UGC) adopting University as the unit for implementing the communal roster applied for Central Universities/ Institutions funded by UGC/ Centre only. “As the State universities of Tamil Nadu are largely funded by Tamil Nadu government, they are governed by the policy of State government in respect of administrative matters, reservation policies, etc,” he said.

Mr. Manivannan sought to keep in abeyance the permission granted by Higher Education Secretary to Registrar of Bharathidasan University to go ahead with recruitment adopting University as a unit for the purpose of reservation policy. He urged that a special committee be set up to verify whether the vacancies assessed were in tune with the 200- point roster system.

“This is in violation of the reservation policy existing in the State and is against the ideals of social justice. This move will defeat the very purpose of implementing the communal roster in recruitments and will provide scope to favouritism and nepotism, besides allotting less-important departments to those from reserved categories,” Mr Manivannan told The Hindu.