From 200 Point Roster To Department Wise Roster System: Continued Attack On Reservation In Higher Education

If 13-point roster system is implemented then out of nine universities, in six universities more than 90 % of reserved vacancies will be converted into unreserved vacancies.

What is the new roster system?

A new roster system known as the 13-point roster system has been proposed. The 13-point roster system takes each department as a unit and implements the recruitment and reservation policy for teachers keeping the department as a unit. In the previously accepted 200-point system, the reservation and recruitment took place taking the entire university as a single unit. 

Why are students and teachers protesting the new roster system?

The new roster system will drastically impact the representation of SC/ST/OBC and other marginalized communities. 

How are the two systems different?

In the 200-point roster system, 99 posts were reserved for the SC, ST and OBC communities and 101 posts were for the unreserved. Under this roster, in case there is a deficit of reserved seats in one department, it could be compensated by more people from the reserved communities in other departments in the university. 

In the 13-point system, the first, second, third, fifth, and sixth posts will be unreserved in a department, while the fourth will reserved for OBCs, the seventh will be reserved for SCs, the 14th post will be reserved for STs, and the eighth and 12th for OBCs, while the ninth, 10th and 11th will be unreserved.

Where does the problem lie?

The sizes of departments are very small all over India and most of the departments have less than 10 faculties position. Very few departments can be found where more than 14 positions are available. Therefore, in case of very small departments where there are less than 14 faculty positions, it becomes very difficult for the reservation of all SC/ST/OBC together. 

In case of departments where there are only 4 positions available, no reserved seats will be created ever. Similarly, for departments with less than seven faculty positions, there will be no SC and ST position. And in departments with less than 14 faculty positions, there will be no ST faculty.

According to the report submitted by BHU to the HRD Ministry last year, if the university were to use the 13-point roster, posts reserved for SCs would be reduced by half, those for STs by almost 80%, and those for OBC teachers by 30%.

How will the new 10 percent reservation change things?

Now, if the 10 percent reservation for the economically backward is implemented, the SC, ST and OBC teachers could be completed wiped out from all central universities.

Example: Read carefully

Example, in the case of department consisting of 14 positions, the following will be applicable according to policy of reservation. Since OBC has 27% reservation, first OBC seat will be created when the department reaches size of 4. Then second OBC post will be created when department size reaches 8 and the third OBC seat will be created when it reaches 12 post. Similarly, for SC, first SC post will be created when department size reaches 7. For ST, the first seat will be created only when department size reaches 14.

In case of 14 size department, both 200 point and department wise roster formula will provide same number of reserved seats. The problem is that the size of departments in most colleges tend to be around seven and very few departments’ size go above 14. So, in case of very small departments, which has less than four faculty positions, no reserved seats will be created ever. Similarly, for department of size of less than 7, there will be no seat for SC. Worse is the case for ST, which requires department size of 14.

Note: Information is collected from different online sources                    -Amit Wadhe