Less Than 3% SC And ST Teachers In IITs, Reveals Government Data

At present, there are 23 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) functioning in various parts of the country. According to the data provided by the Union Human Resource Development minister in the Parliament recently, in IITs, only 2.81 percent is from the reserved Scheduled Caste (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) category.  At present, there are 23 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) functioning in various parts of the country. The sanctioned strength of faculty in all IITs is 8856, against which, 6043 faculties are in position and 2813 are vacant. Of the 6043 faculties in position in the IITs, 149 are from the SCs, and 21 from STs, which means only 2.81 percent teachers are currently employed in the premier technological institutes from the SC and ST reserved categories. The total sanctioned strength of non-faculty posts in IITs is 9465 out of which 1125 posts are reserved for SCs and 520 for STs. Against this, 888 posts are filled up by SC candidates and 275 by the STs. “IITs follow flexible cadre system for appointment of faculty. Therefore, the sanctioned strength of faculty at different grades i.e Professor, Associate Professor, and Assistant Professor is not fixed. Under the flexible cadre system, IITs are free to recruit any grade of faculty, depending upon requirement, availability of eligible candidates subject to the condition that the overall strength will not exceed the standard ratio of 1:10,” the minister said in the parliament. The minister also informed the lower house of the Parliament on Monday while answering a question by Member of Parliament Dr. Udit Raj, reservation in the appointment of faculty in IITs is available only at entry level post of Assistant Professors and Lecturers in Science and Technology subjects. “For faculty posts in subjects other than science and technology e.g. Humanities, Social Science and Management as well as non-faculty posts, reservation at standard rate of 15%, 7½ % and 27% for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) respectively is fully applicable,” he added. READ MORE: Government Approaches IITs, IIMs For Accreditation Process Details of Non-Faculty in respect of IITs All the IITs maintain reservation roster and publish rolling advertisement on their website giving full details about the percentage of reservation, relaxation etc. IITs also conduct special recruitment drives to fill up the vacant posts including posts earmarked for SCs and STs. “IITs strive to maintain a faculty-student ratio of 1:10 and non-faculty-student ratio of 1.1:10. Since the strength of faculty is linked with the strength of students, the actual sanctioned strength of faculty and non-faculty fluctuates from time to time depending upon the number of students enrolled,” the minister said in the reply. (SOURCE – NDTV)