‘IIM Calcutta violating reservation policy in hiring faculty members’

Allegations of violation of reservation policies in faculty recruitment at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Calcutta have come to the fore as per a response to a query made under The Right to Information Act, 2005 by All India OBC Students Association (AIOBCSA).

According to the RTI response, only two vacancies in the institution were filled by Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates and four vacancies were filled by candidates belonging to Other Backward Classes (OBC). In contrast, the sanctioned strength for SC and OBC candidates is 18 and 34 respectively.

Moreover, nine positions were sanctioned for ST candidates, but none have been filled so far, said the RTI response obtained on October 21. “There are four OBC, two SC and zero ST faculty members in IIM Calcutta. Is this social justice? We demand Dharmendra Pradhan Ji to immediately conduct enquiry and fill reserved positions [sic],” the AIOBCSA wrote on X.

In its social media post, the students’ association also mentioned that although 53 positions were sanctioned for unreserved candidates, 73 posts were occupied by them.

“The first table in the RTI response [mentioning sanctioned strength under each category] reflects the ideal scenario. However, since these reservation categories have been introduced at different times in the past, our faculty strength in the unreserved category reflects hiring practices from before the policies were mandated for institutions,” Saibal Chattopadhyay, director of IIM, Calcutta told The Hindu.

“New recruitments are also dependent on how many vacancies open up in different categories when faculty members retire,” he added.

He further highlighted that historically over 50% of seats in Central education institutions have been taken up by general category candidates.

“The Government of India’s roster policy is to ensure the smooth implementation of the reservation rules in the current scenario,” Mr. Chattopadhyay said.

Meanwhile, president of the AIOBCSA Kiran Kumar Gowd said that the association is planning to initiate protests at various IIMs and in New Delhi later this month.

“The IIMs and IITs are disregarding reservation policies based on their own interpretations, compromising a constitutional mandate for social justice. The Directors seem unable to understand the importance of these policies. The data from IIM Calcutta, in particular, is disappointing, especially as it is recognised as one of the top management schools in the country,” Mr. Gowd said.

He added that the association is planning to meet Minister of Education to discuss this issue. “We will urge the Minister to take strict action to ensure the filling of SC, ST, and OBC positions in line with constitutional requirements,” he added.