By A Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: The executive council of the Delhi University has decided to fill all vacancies for existing teaching positions in the varsity and its colleges with SC/ ST candidates, till the backlog for these categories is made up. This means there would be no opening for a general category candidate till the backlog of 1,400 SC/ST vacancies is covered. Fresh vacancies would be subject to a ceiling of 50 per cent reservation.

The ``nearly unanimous'' decision was taken by the council during its meeting on Monday. Of about 6,500 teachers in the Delhi University, only about 100 belong to the SC/ST category. According to vice-chancellor Deepak Nayyar, the decision is in accordance with the constitutional amendment providing 22.5 per cent reservation for SC/ST candidates.

Teachers fear that the decision, which comes into effect immediately, would lead to a crisis, considering the varsity has been prohibited by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to create new posts without its permission. Most of the 600 teachers, working on an ad-hoc basis, may find themselves jobless, since a majority of them belong to the general category.

Charging the V-C with carrying out a ``political agenda'' rather than an ``academic agenda'', Academics for Action and Development (AAD) chairman S S Rathi said this decision would be disastrous for academic and research activities. ``This would adversely affect admissions to PG courses. Why would anyone be encouraged to take up PG research, when there are no employment opportunities in the university?'' Rathi asked.

Also, ``open permanent posts will not be available for 10 to 15 years, irrespective of the fact whether reserved category candidates are available or not in these disciplines,'' pointed out elected teacher member of DUEC and AAD member Vijaya Laxmi Singh. She was the lone member to oppose the decision in the EC.

Reacting to charges of ``favouring those with leftist leanings'', the V-C said that the appointments are made by a committee of experts drawn from outside the varsity. ``Their recommendations are based on strict peer review and academic credentials,'' he stressed. In fact, ``I am attempting that the governance of the colleges should be divorced from political affiliations,'' he said.

Members of the National Democratic Teachers' Front also staged a dharna outside the council's meeting venue on Monday. ``There is an increasing tendency of the V-C and his team to favour groups and individuals with leftist political leanings,'' said Front president N K Kakkar. The members also urged the executive council to ``analyse the list of appointments and nominations made by the V-C and his team to various posts''. Nayyar, on his part called the allegations ``entirely baseless'' and ``politically motivated''. Meanwhile, south Delhi MP Vijay Kumar Malhotra has also expressed concern at the ``partisan administration'' in the Delhi University.