'Conspiracy to end quotas,' Rahul Gandhi on UGC new draft

Stepping up an attack, the Congress on Monday demanded the dismissal of UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar over the draft guidelines for “de-reservation” of posts in higher education institutions, with party leader Rahul Gandhi alleging it was a “conspiracy” to end the reservation given to SC, ST and OBC categories.

The party had on Sunday demanded the immediate withdrawal of the UGC’s draft guidelines proposing that any vacancy reserved for SC, ST and OBC candidates can be “declared unreserved” if enough candidates from these categories are not available.

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, however, has clarified that not a single post will be de-reserved and there is no scope for ambiguity about reservations after the introduction of the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers’ Cadre) Act, 2019.