Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that draft guidelines for 'de-reservation' of posts in higher education institutions was a 'conspiracy to end the reservation given to SC, ST and OBC categories.
The Congress demanded the dismissal of UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar and immediate withdrawal of the UGC's draft guidelines proposing that any vacancy reserved for the SC, ST and OBC candidates could be ' declared undeserved if enough candidates from these categories are not available.
Rahul Gandhi claimed that this move was an attempt by the saffron party to "eliminate" the participation of deprived sections and the party demanded that Kumar should apologise to the entire backward classes.
In a post on X, Gandhi wrote, "In the new draft of UGC, there is a conspiracy to end the reservation given to SC, ST and OBC categories in higher education institutions."
He also added, "Today, out of approximately 7000 reserved posts in 45 central universities, 3000 are vacant, and of which only 7.1 per cent are Dalit, 1.6 per cent are tribal and 4.5 per cent are backward class professors."
"The BJP-RSS, which have even talked about reviewing reservation, now want to snatch the jobs of the deprived classes from such higher education institutions," Gandhi further alleged.
"This is an attempt to kill the dreams of the heroes who have fought for social justice and to eliminate the participation of the deprived sections," he said.
Gandhi said this was the difference between 'politics of symbolism' and 'real justice' and reflected the character of the BJP.
He said Congress will never allow this to happen and will continue to fight for social justice. Vacant posts will be filled only with qualified candidates from reserved categories, the former Congress chief asserted.
Addressing a press conference alongside Congress' SC Department chief Rajesh Lilothia, Chairman of Unorganised Workers and Employees Congress Udit Raj said after the Congress party protested against the "anti-people" move, the UGC was forced to issue a statement in the media that there is no such decision.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, however, has clarified that not a single post will be de-reserved and there is no scope for ambiguity about reservations after the introduction of the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers' Cadre) Act, 2019.
