All 20 Indian Institute of Managament (IIMs) have requested the HRD Ministry to exempt them from reserving faculty positions for Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS).

The Ministry has asked the premier business schools to provide quota in faculty positions to SC,ST,OBC and EWS candidates, which they currently do not offer.

According to officials, the B-schools have made the request of exemption by saying that they adopt a fair recruitment process and give equal opportunities to all, including disadvantaged sections of society.

The IIMs have so far been following the 1975-order of the Department of Personnel & Training that exempted scientific and technical posts from the reservation policy. IIM- Ahmedabad is caught in a battle on the issue in the high court.

In November 2019, the Human Resource Development Ministry wrote to all institutes to ensure implementation of the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers’ Cadre) Act.

A separate communication was sent to all IIMs on Wednesday to ensure ‘reservation of posts in direct recruitment’, considering the institute as a unit-as specified in the Act that came into effect on March 7, 2019.

Source: PTI