Succumbing to the incessant pressure piled by the Narendra Modi government, the IITs (Indian Institute of Technology) of the country have finally given up and published advertisements for filling faculty positions based on the quota system.
For the first time in their history, the IITs and their autonomy in the faculty choosing process have been snatched away. Talking about the advertisement for the faculty positions, a dean (faculty) of an IIT was quoted as saying by TOI, “Each IIT has followed its own process. We are all recruiting under the mission mode. But while IIT Bombay has advertised for 50 positions, IIT Madras has advertised for 49. Others like IIT Delhi, Roorkee, Hyderabad, Kharagpur have enlisted departments where there are vacancies,”
It is pertinent to note that forcing the decision of quota-based hiring upon the IITs comes in the backdrop of a center-formed committee vehemently disagreeing with the Modi government’s decision in its report.
A center formed committee had rejected the reservation-quota system
Reportedly, the Ministry of Education on April 23 had appointed a committee for suggesting measures for effective implementation of reservation in student admissions and faculty recruitment in IITs.
The committee headed by IIT-Delhi Director V Ramgopal Rao submitted its report on June 17 and recommended that these institutions be exempted from following reservation policies in faculty recruitment.
IITs should be exempted from the quota system: Committee in its report
The panel further remarked in its report that instead of implementing quotas in faculty positions — the 23 IITs should be exempted from reservations altogether under the Central Educational Institutions (CEI) Act, 2019. Rather than specific quotas, diversity issues should be addressed through outreach campaigns and targeted faculty recruitment.
The high panel group was of the view that IITs should be added to “Institutions of Excellence” mentioned in the Schedule to the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers’ Cadre) Act 2019.
Under Section 4 of the aforementioned act- “institutions of excellence, research institutions, institutions of national and strategic importance” are exempted from providing the reservation quota.
Currently, eight institutions including, the Homi Bhabha National Institute and its constituent units, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Space Physics Laboratory, and Indian Institute of Remote Sensing are part of this exempted list.
IITs cite a lack of suitable or quality professors
However, the Modi government, lately on a spree to appease the minorities and the socially backward groups pushed through the proposal and wore down the IITs. The 23 premier engineering schools, in the past, have often cited a lack of suitable or qualified candidates for the embarrassingly low number of SC, ST, and OBCs teachers.
However, with the quota system enabled, mediocre professors might come through the setup and join the institutes, or more alarmingly, the low student-faculty ratio will further plummet.
The IITs have been aspiring for top-50 global ranking, which would appear unattainable if faculty positions are left empty due to the low number of SC, ST, OBC professors.
IITs still nowhere near the top global rankings
As reported by TFI, a total of 71 Indian universities made it to the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2022 this year. However, none of them managed to breach the top-300 barrier as the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) – a regular in the list, stood in the 301-350 band for a third consecutive year.
Meanwhile, IIT-Ropar and JSS Academy of Higher Education found themselves in the 351-400 band, while IIT Indore came at the fourth spot, ranked between 401 and 500. None of the old IITs participated in the survey but even they would have struggled to reach anywhere near the top-50 mark.
Read More: Brahmanism and Leftism: Why IITs chose to stay away from Times Varsity rankings this year
IIT falsely tagged Brahmanical institutes by the left media
More importantly, there has been a concerted attempt in recent times to malign the image of IITs. Routine accusations of Brahminism are hurled at these trusted and credible institutions. The Indian left cabal in association with the global left media describes IIT as the home of Brahmins.
It is alleged that non-Savarnas are deliberately failed in the top institutes of the country. These allegations are outrightly false as it is one thing to crack the entrance exams with the help of the quota system but, another to crack the academic exams where the only merit comes to the fore.
In July, Vipin P. Veetil, resigned as an assistant professor at IIT Madras citing he faced caste-based discrimination and since then, the liberal media has dubbed the entire IIT world as the home of Brahminical patriarchy.
Modi government and its incessant urge to serenade the left
Over the last seven years, since the Narendra Modi government has been in power, there has been a discernible characteristic of the top echelons of the bureaucracy to please the left-liberal cabal. The Modi government, despite claiming to bat for the nationalistic and ‘right’ cause has often been found serenading the ‘left’ – the recent NCERT controversy being a case in point.
Thus, it doesn’t come as a surprise that the government has forced the quota system upon the most prestigious institutes of the country. The system will only bring the quality of the institutes down and stray it adrift of the top world rankings.