Manifestations of Academic Untouchability: A Case Study on Implementation of Reservations As per a Central Act in a Central University in Southern India

Indian society is characterized by highly unequal social structure where the beneficiaries are seldom aware about policy changes enacted by the parliament. In such scenario, the onus to ensure proper implementation of the policies are vested with the institutions and more specifically the decision making authorities of the institutions. While the government has reserved 15% for SC, 7.5 % for STs and 27 % for OBCs, these very proportions have been used by the institution (administrative personnel), to systematically exclude SC and ST students from admissions in the context of a Central University. The demand for proper implementation of Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act 2006 and Amendment Act 2012 in a central university in Southern India exposed how the very act to facilitate reservations is used to justify the systematic exclusion of SC and ST Ph.D. aspirants in several departments. This article presents a critical analysis of the official communications of the university to delineate the inherent exclusionary design. Based on this, the article calls for the inclusion of the two paragraphs that is originally part of the amendment proposed by the 234th Report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee. Further, this article emphasizes that bodies governing higher education should provide a proper direction on the method of implementation at the institutional level and calls for administrative mechanisms directly under the apex regulatory bodies overseeing implementation of reservation policies in all the government educational institutions to ensure reservations as envisaged by the policies.