[Goanet] Outlook Article: Stop the Undermining of Reservations in Goa University: An Open Letter

[augusto pinto]

 http://www.outlookindia.com/printarticle.aspx?291700

It has been 4 days since the posting of the Open Letter which I among many
others had signed, on how discrimination is practiced at Goa University and
the response to this article on Goanet has been overwhelming:

Silence! Deafening silence!!
No denial! No contest! Nothing!!!
Just silence! Deafening silence!!

Why are all the 'stalwarts' of Goanet so silent of this subject?

Does anyone realize what it means when 90 % of Goa University's faculty are
drawn from what is the top 10% of its population. (By Goa's population I
refer to those Goans who stay here now irrespective of when or where they
migrated here)

Why is it that Goaneters who are alleged to be so interested about matters
in Goa so silent about the rights of clearly  over the 70% of Goans?

Does caste and class become an issue for these alleged lovers of Goa only
when perpetuating the wars of privileges between rich Bamon and rich Chardo
and rich Saraswat and rich Migrant who form the base of Goanet? Otherwise
is it that all these people close ranks and cover each others backs and
pretend they don't know who are the underprivileged of Goa.

BTW just in case someone wants to know who are the backward classes of Goa,
please refer to
 http://ncbc.nic.in/User_Panel/GazetteResolution.aspx?fTGCA30hFdm5%2fM1j

To find out about SC and ST just navigate to the links provided here.
Augusto

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[Goanet] Outlook Article: Stop the Undermining of Reservations in Goa University: An Open Letter

[augusto pinto]

http://www.outlookindia.com/printarticle.aspx?291700

Stop the Undermining of Reservations:

An Open Letter on the recent recruitment at Goa University

This open letter is intended to express our concern at the improper
implementation of the national policy of reservations at Goa University
(GU). In June 2014 it was reported that there had been serious violations
of the system of reservations in recruitment as laid down in the
Constitution. It now appears that the problem is deeper than first
reported.

To provide a brief summary of the reports: Nearly a year ago, in September
2013, the University had, through an advertisement, invited applications
for 68 regular posts of Professor, Associate Professor, and Assistant
Professor, along with 4 temporary posts of like nature. Of the 68 posts, a
total of 29 were reserved for Other Backward Castes (OBCs), Scheduled
Tribes (STs), and Scheduled Castes (SCs), plus another 7 for non-caste
quotas.

The 4 temporary posts had no reservations. These positions in the reserved
category were opened to candidates from outside Goa, even though the
Constitution clearly stipulates that the reservation is for locals. The
reason is simple: the injustice and discrimination are local, hence the
remedy or compensation has to be local. Hence, the percentage of jobs to be
reserved is based on the state-wise population of the community.

Not only is there clarity in the law on this point, the same was also
apparently pointed out by the University’s screening committee itself on
the application forms of candidates.

Documents obtained from GU under the RTI ( Right to Information) Act by
concerned parties show that at least one application of a candidate from
outside Goa in the OBC category was marked ‘Eligible under General
category, OBC not from G’. Despite this, the University opted to interview
and then appoint ineligible candidates; in other words, this violation of
the law seems to have been knowingly carried out.

Fortunately, these improper appointments were challenged by local
applicants, and also criticised in the local press, after which they were
apparently withdrawn. However, no new appointments have yet been made from
among the eligible candidates.

But this is just the beginning of the story. According to further
information obtained through RTI applications, the discrimination against
STs, SCs and OBCs in the Goa University goes beyond these latest
appointments, to the very method by which the reserved posts are
calculated. To put it simply, the University seems to have ignored the
reserved quota as shown in the University Roster, the document which is
meant to record the implementation of reservations in jobs.

The Subversion of the Roster

As a result of continued and blatant subversion of the reservation scheme
by various institutions, including universities across India, the Supreme
Court in 1995 mandated a post-based recruitment roster for a single cadre
across all departments. This resulted in the creation in July 1997 of the
current 200 point post-based roster, which would ensure that the number of
reserved positions would be filled according to the legal quota.

The GU Roster is not generally open to public scrutiny, despite being a
document of great importance to the public. Following the recruitment mess
described above though, RTI applications were made to view the Roster. The
document obtained was incomplete and appears to have problems, for example,
it reveals that the total number of posts in the cadre of Professors are 31
(all having been occupied at some time or the other), but shows the posts
only up to serial number of “09”. The other posts are just not shown.
Hence, when calculating the backlog it is calculated on the basis of a
strength of 9 and not 31. The backlog of reservations are hence
proportionately reduced to 30% of what they should be.

There are other such ‘errors’. But we are for the moment going to leave
that aside. What we want to point to is the total backlog. The total
backlog of reserved posts that have not been filled, according to this
Roster, for all the three cadres, namely Assistant Professor, Associate
Professor, and Professor, amounts to 41 vacancies. Normally when a
recruitment drive is held, the total number of posts will be divided into
‘general’ and ‘reserved’ according to the percentages laid out by the
government, up to a maximum of 50% reserved. But if there is a backlog of
vacancies, things change. According to Article 16(4B) of the Constitution
of India, and the order O. M. No. 36012/5/97-Estt(Res).VoI.II dated
20.7.2000 (following Article 16 (4B) vide the Constitution (81st Amendment)
Act, 2000) the backlog of reserved vacancies of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and
Scheduled Tribes (STs) & OBCs should be treated as a separate and distinct
group. They should not be considered together with the reserved vacancies
of the year in which they are filled for the purposes of determining the
ceiling of 50% reservation on the total nu