TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Eighteen citizens have demanded that the Government should ensure that the Goa University immediately strikes down all the appointments in the general category made subsequent to the September 2013 advertisements of posts since it is in violation of national policy on reservations and compensate the appointees for the loss.
“If such attempts are allowed to be successful, casteist injustice and the deprivation of the legitimate rights of the SC, ST, and OBC communities of Goa will continue for decades to come, if not longer,” says the open letter to the government.
They also want that all eligible candidates in the reserved category or, if there was only one candidate be appointed, a fresh University Roster to rectify the backlog of reserved positions and vacancies for candidates from Scheduled communities. The government should ensure the university conducts an inquiry into the entire recent round of recruitment to fix responsibility for the improprieties, and ensure that all those who were associated with this round are not involved in the process of recruiting, demands the letter signed by Amita Kanekar, (historian), Albertina Almeida, (advocate and human rights activist), Thalmann Pradeep Pereira, (advocate and trade unionist) and Chrissie D’Costa, (researcher in applied linguistics) among others.
According to the eighteen citizens, “the whole mess in fact seems to have been done knowingly, out of a desire to scuttle the Constitutionally-guaranteed policy of reservations. It also reveals the brazen manner in which casteism continues to prevail within Goa University.”
According to information provided by the 18, 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 four 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 seven for non-caste quotas. The four 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 reservations are for locals.”
The letter alleges that 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.
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. 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 number of vacancies for that year.
