The Hindu: PUDUCHERRY: Friday,
August 12, 2016.
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.
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