On Sunday, the Ministry of Education issued a clarification that reserved posts cannot be de-reserved, in contrast to the UGC's draft guidelines which suggested that any vacancy designated for SC, ST, and OBC candidates could be deemed unreserved in the absence of an adequate number of candidates from these categories.

After a draft of guidelines by the University Grants Commission (UGC) suggested that any vacancy reserved for SC, ST, and OBC candidates could be declared unreserved if insufficient candidates from these categories are available, the Ministry of Education clarified on Sunday that no reserved posts can be de-reserved."In accordance with the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers' Cadre) Act of 2019, reservation in Central Educational Institutions (CEI) is mandated for all direct recruitment positions in the teacher's cadre." Once this Act is implemented, no reserved position shall be de-reserved. Ministry of Education has given directives to all the CEIs to fill up the vacancies strictly as per the 2019 ACT," the Ministry of Education tweeted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The UGC released preliminary guidelines on December 27 regarding the de-reservation of vacancies intended for candidates belonging to the scheduled caste (SC), scheduled tribe (ST), and Other Backward Class (OBC) categories in higher education institutes (HEIs). If insufficient reserved candidates are available, these positions may be made available to the general public.
The ‘Guidelines for Implementation of Reservation Policy of the Government of India in Higher Education Institutes (HEIs)’ was disseminated in the public domain for feedback in December, last year. Today is the last day to submit public opinion.

The proposed guidelines state, "De-reservation of reserved positions in the event of direct recruitment is generally prohibited."

“However, in rare and exceptional cases when a vacancy in a Group A' service cannot be allowed to remain vacant in the public interest, the University concerned may prepare a proposal for de-reservation of the vacancy giving the following information: The proposal will be required to list — efforts made to fill up the post; reasons why it cannot be permitted to remain vacant and justification for de-reservation," the draft guidelines read.
"The proposal for de-reservation in case of Group C or D should go to the Executive Council of the University and in case of Group A or B should be submitted to the Ministry of Education, giving complete details, for necessary approval. After obtaining the approval, the post may be filled and reservation may be carried forward," the draft guidelines added.

The draft guidelines also talk about shortfall and backlog in reserved vacancy posts and state that universities should attempt to fill the vacancies by calling for recruitment for the second time as soon as possible.“In case of promotion, if sufficient numbers of SC and ST candidates fit for promotion against reserved vacancies are not available, such vacancies may be de-reserved and filled by the candidates of other communities," the guidelines state.

Power to Accord Approval to De-reservation
The power to accord sanction to the de-reservation of the reserved vacancies in such cases will be delegated to UGC and Ministry of Education, if certain conditions are met, the draft guidelines read.

"The proposal can be considered if no candidate belonging to the category for which the vacancy is reserved is available within the zone of consideration or extended zone of consideration or eligible for promotion in the feeder cadre specified in the Recruitment Rules.

"The sanction for de-reservation has been seen and concurred in by the liaison officer for SC, ST of the university. The proposal for de-reservation is agreed upon by the appropriate authority in UGC and the Ministry of Education. "In case of disagreement between the appointing authority and the liaison officer for SC, ST of the university, the advice of the Department of Personnel and Training is obtained and implemented," the guidelines added.
If approved, the guidelines will be extended to all the central universities, deemed-to-be-universities, and other autonomous bodies/institutions under the central government or those receiving grants-in-aid from the UGC, central government, or consolidated fund of India.

The guidelines have been garnering backlash from several quarters. The JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) has announced a protest against it and will be burning an effigy of UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar.