On December 13, during the ongoing winter parliamentary session, Ram Nath Thakur raised questions regarding the vacancies in the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) and its subordinate organizations. Thakur is the leader of Janata Dal and represents Bihar in the Rajya Sabha. These questions were presented to Smriti Irani, who is currently serving as the Minister of Women and Child Development as well as the Minister of Minority Affairs.

The details regarding the total number of vacancies and the vacancies that had been filled up in the Ministry of Women and Child Development were asked by Thakur, for which the following data tables were provided.

As per the tables provided above, it can be observed that under the Ministry (Main Secretariat) Groups A and B, their respective vacancies have been filled efficiently. Out of 14 vacant positions in Group A, 13 have been filled up. In group B, out of the 34 vacant positions, 33 have been filled up. On the other hand, Group C’s vacant positions have not been filled up adequately as out of the 46 vacant positions, only 6 have been filled up.

Apart from this, Thakur has also enquired about the details regarding the total number of vacancies for the SC, ST and OBC, and the seats that had been filled up by them in the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

As per the data attached above, it can be noted that the vacancies of the Ministry (Main Secretariat) have not been filled up for either of the three categories: SC, ST and OBC. In the case of NIPCCD (National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development), it can be observed that out of the 5 positions vacant for the SC community, 15 positions have been filled up. Out of the 3 positions vacant in case of ST, 2 have been filled up. Out of the 24 positions vacant belonging to OBCs, 12 positions have been filled up.

It is also essential to note here that as per the data, there have been no generation of vacancies in CARA (Central Adoption Resource Authority) and NCPCR (National Commission for Protection of Child Rights) for the marginalised communities. The response further provides that the posts of NCW (National Commission for Women) are filled on Foreign Deputation basis and hence reservation is not applicable for them.

The Ministry’s main secretariat displays a significant gap in filling Group C vacancies, indicating an urgent need for attention and recruitment in this segment. Furthermore, the data reflects mixed progress in filling vacancies for SC, ST, and OBC categories across subordinate organizations. While there can be seen a positive trend in filling positions in NIPCCD for the SC, ST, and OBC categories, certain government bodies like CARA and NCPCR show no vacancies reserved for the marginalised communities, signalling a different employment scenario. The absence of filled vacancies for SC, ST, and OBC categories in the Ministry’s main secretariat calls for scrutiny and necessary actions to ensure equitable representation. However, the unique staffing criteria for NCW positions on foreign deputation exempts them from reservation policies, portraying a distinct operational model.

The complete answer can be accessed here:

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The post No vacancies for SC/ST/OBC in CARA and NCPCR, reservation policies not applicable to NCW: WCD Ministry appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The response by BSP MP, Ritesh Pandey, and the government detailed that over the last five years, a staggering 13,626 SC, ST, and OBC students have discontinued their education. The data reveals that 4,596 OBC candidates, 2,424 SC, and 2,622 ST students chose to drop out of Central Universities during this period. Furthermore, the statistics show that in the renowned institutes such as IITs, 2,066 OBC candidates, 1,068 SC, and 408 ST students decided to discontinue their educational pursuits. Similarly, at the esteemed IIMs, 163 OBC, 188 SC, and 91 ST candidates had dropped out.

He further gave the reason for the dropouts, stating that migrating to other courses is an occurrence, “In the Higher Education sector students have multiple options and they choose to migrate across institutions and from one course/programme to another in the same institution. The migration/withdrawal if any, is mainly on account of securing seat by the students in other departments / institutions of their choice or on any personal ground.” Furthermore, the ministry has no record of the data related to National Law Universities, as these institutes come under state legislature.

Furthermore, addressing concerns of dropouts in the university, the minister replied, “In order to proactively address any issues of SC/ST students, institutes have set up mechanisms such as SC/ST students’ cells, Equal Opportunity Cell, Student Grievance Cell, Student Grievance Committee, Students Social Club, Liaison officers, Liaison Committee etc. Further, University Grants Commission (UGC) has issued instructions from time to time for promoting equity and fraternity amongst students.” He also stated that the government has initiated several measures to address the issue. These include fee reductions, the establishment of additional educational institutes, scholarship programs, and access to national-level scholarships. Sarkar spoke about specific initiatives by the government like the ‘waiver of tuition fees in IITs’ and the provision of national scholarships under the Central Sector Scheme, aiming to support the welfare of SC/ST students.

The complete answer can be viewed here (1):

Furthermore, on December 4 the education minister responded to questions posed by A Raja, an MP from the DMK party. He had asked the minister questions on the discrimination records against Dalits and Tribals in private schools that was reported in the past 3 years, specific regulations by the government or by the CBSE to address said discrimination, and lastly the details of the circulars sent by the central government to private schools regarding instances and redressal of discrimination against these students.

The government responded by saying that Section 12(1)(c) of the RTE Act 25 % of seats in private schools are reserved for students belonging to disadvantaged groups or economically weaker sections, and furthermore, that the NEP 2020 has a provision that states it necessary for special attention to be given to reduce educational inequities pertaining to ST and SC groups. Interestingly, what the minister did not provide here was an answer to the question on how many instances of discrimination were noted against ST and SC students in private schools in the last three years.

The presence of marginalised students in universities has already presented dismal figures. According to the Ministry of Education’s report for the academic year 2020–21 earlier this year, it was revealed that amongst India’s 4.13 crore total registered students in universities about 14.2% belonged to the Scheduled Caste  category, 5.8% to the Scheduled Tribe  category, and 35.8% belonged to the Other Backward Class groups.

In addition to student demographics, a  concern emerges in the realm of teachers as well as responding to a query in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Education Subhash Sarkar earlier this revealed until April 1, 2023 India’s central universities have only on vice-chancellor from the SC community, one from the ST community, and about five from the OBC communities, revealing that all is not too well for teachers from marginalised communicates as well and revealed that in 45 central universities in India.

The complete answer can be viewed here (2):

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New Delhi: The Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) is a component under Ayushman Bharat launched by the government to support the economically weaker section (EWS) to avail of healthcare services. The PMJAY scheme was launched in September 2018 to provide health insurance coverage of ₹5 lakh to about 50 crore beneficiaries.

However, a detailed analysis of the PMJAY has shown that those most vulnerable – whether in terms of state communities or gender – have not been able to use it as well as the relatively better off. The analysis was published in Lancet Regional Health —South East Asia and done by researchers from Association for Socially Applicable Research (ASAR), Pune and Duke University School of Medicine, in the US. The study looked at the 2018–2022 period.

The study cited a 2021 national household survey that showed that awareness and enrolment levels were the lowest among households in the poorest 40% of the population. “Thus, overall, the scheme is failing to target the most vulnerable population,” it stated.

The vulnerable population groups, e.g. Scheduled Castes (SCs), Other Backward Classes (OBCs), the Islamic population, and families with children and elderly, have higher cases of Catastrophic Health Expenditure (CHE) a situation where health spending exceeds 10% of a household’s consumption expenditure. Also, the incidence of Impoverishing Health Expenditure (IHE) is higher in rural areas and poorer states compared to urban areas and wealthier states.

The inequities are reflected in the supply and utilisation of services under PMJAY. To assess equity in PMJAY’s supply-side components, the study measured the number and distribution of empanelled hospitals. Information about supply-side components like medical equipment, drugs, and health workforce was unavailable. To assess utilisation-side components of PMJAY, they measured claim volumes, claim values, and enrollment rates.

The report states that states with higher poverty headcounts and disease burdens have a higher need for PMJAY and vice versa. However, the utilisation of claim volume and value is higher in states with lesser needs, e.g. Kerala and Himachal Pradesh, and lesser in states with higher requirements, like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Assam. “This discrepancy in need vs utilisation is due to poor supply-side factors, including a low number of empanelled hospitals, an inefficient beneficiary identification system, and weak health governance in states with greater poverty and disease burdens. A similar pattern is seen at the district level, where socio-economically backward districts (also known as aspirational districts) have lower beneficiary identification rates, the total number of claims, and total claim amounts than non-aspirational districts. The majority of aspirational districts are located in Jharkhand, Orissa, and Chhattisgarh,” the report states.

The report further states that enrollment under the scheme is almost equal for males (50.8%) and females (49.2%) nationally. However, the total number (volume) and value of claims are higher for males than females (51.5% and 56.4% vs 48.5% and 43.6%, respectively). Out of the top 50 procedures in PMJAY, 60% of procedures are utilised more by males and 30% are utilised more by females.

SC and ST groups are considered the two most vulnerable in India and are, therefore, eligible for PMJAY. “Overall, these groups comprise approximately 28% of India’s population. However, there is little information to understand the utilisation. At the national level, SC and ST populations have contributed to only 5% and 2% of private hospital admissions, respectively, since the scheme’s inception,” the report states.

The report concludes that PMJAY has been updated in several aspects, including a larger population, services and cost coverages, awareness creation, and monitoring and evaluation. However, it still lags in binding domains like equity in supply and utilisation, targeting vulnerable populations, including outpatient coverage, and dynamic cost coverage. “The inequitable supply and utilisation affect the most vulnerable groups. It risks creating a spiral where the most deprived classes can fall into further deprivation. PMJAY should work on the above-discussed shortfalls, which will need an increase in supply-response regarding healthcare infrastructure and services and an overall increment in GHE,” it states.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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The Union Ministry of Education told the Parliament on August 2 that 41% of posts reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) at central universities and research institutions continue to remain vacant. Dharmendar Pradhan, the Education Minister was responding to a query raised by Lok Sabha MP Dharmendra Pradhan on the total number of sanctioned and vacant posts for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and other Backward Classes (OBCs) in all Central Universities and research institutions, and why the same have remained vacant.

The response was provided in the form of data as follows:

This indicates that 41% of posts reserved for SC teachers are vacant while 39.7% posts reserved for ST teachers are vacant. As for OBC, 55.94% of posts of teachers are still vacant.

Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers’ Cadre) Act, 2019 provides for reservation of posts in direct recruitment in teachers’ cadre in Central Educational Institutions by considering the University as a Unit.

The response may be read here:

Reservation scenario in centre-run universities

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) across the country have resisted offering reservation quota in their teaching positions and a committee appointed by the Ministry in April 2020 suggested that the 23 IITs should be exempted from reservations altogether should be added to the list of “Institutions of Excellence” mentioned in the Schedule of the Act. Section 4 of the Act exempts “institutions of excellence, research institutions, institutions of national and strategic importance” and minority institutions from providing reservation. The Schedule currently includes Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), National Brain Research Centre (NBRC), North-Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Science, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Physical Research Laboratory, Space Physics Laboratory, Indian Institute of Remote Sensing and Homi Bhabha National Institute and all its 10 constituent units. Many have criticised these provisions for promoting upper caste superiority and for being violative of the right to equality under Article 14 of the Constitution.

Even the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) made a similar demand to the Ministry, in January 2020.

The 23 IITs reserve posts while recruiting faculty at the entry-level of Assistant Professor and not at senior faculty posts such as Associate Professor and Professor. In June 2021, a response to a Right to Information (RTI) application revealed that at IIT-B, only six (0.9%) of the 684 faculty positions are from SC community, one (0.1%) is from ST and 10 (1.5) from OBC category. At IIT-Madras, of the 596 faculty members, 16 (2.7%) are SC candidates, three (0.5%) are ST, while 62 (10.4%) are OBC, reported Hindustan Times. The data in the response revealed that none of the 22 IITs (information from IIT Mandi was unavailable) have more than six teachers belonging to the Scheduled Tribes (ST) community, while 18 of them have 10 or less candidates from the Scheduled Castes (SC) category on their faculty rolls.

Pawan Goenka, chairperson of the board of governors of IIT-Bombay and IIT-Madras, told HT, “Currently IITs have a fairly large number of vacancies which they are trying to fill but sufficient high-quality candidates have not been available across all categories. IITs need candidates with PhD, high-quality research papers, and good teaching ability. These have to largely come from within the top engineering colleges in India or good universities abroad. The number of PhD students graduating from the IITs, specially the older ones, has been increasing significantly in the past four years as a result of the increase in intake post 2011. I believe this will help to address the issue in the coming years.”

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