Kharge raised questions regarding appointment to reserved posts in central universities, Dharmendra Pradhan counted the figures.

New Delhi: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has hit back at the allegations of Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge. Kharge had accused the central government of ignoring teaching posts reserved for SC, ST and OBC in central universities. Pradhan said that Congress has a habit of lying. he/she stressed that the Central Government is working expeditiously to fill the vacancies taking all sections along.What allegations did Kharge make?
Congress president Kharge on Saturday, citing an RTI reply, had criticized the Modi government for ignoring teaching posts reserved for marginalized communities. he/she had also said that 27% of the 18,940 teaching posts in 46 central universities are vacant. Among these, the vacancy rate is even higher in SC (32.1%), ST (40.3%) and OBC (41.8%) categories.

Dharmendra Pradhan answered with figures
Dharmendra Pradhan said that Congress has a habit of lying. he/she said that during the Congress-led UPA government in 2014, 37% of the posts in central universities were vacant. This number was even higher among reserved categories – 57% for SC, 63% for ST and 60% for OBC. Pradhan said the Modi government has made considerable progress in reducing these vacancies. he/she said the number of sanctioned posts has increased to 18,940 by 2024, but the total vacancy rate has come down to 26.8%. Citing recent recruitment efforts, he/she said more than 6,890 teaching posts have been filled in the last two years.

Pradhan further said, ‘When one lie does not work, they come up with another lie. Whereas the truth is absolutely clear. In 2014, during the time of Congress’s UPA government, there were 16,217 sanctioned posts in central universities. Of these, 6,042 posts, i.e. 37% of total posts were vacant. 57%, 63% and 60% posts were vacant for SC, ST and OBC.’

Work is going on rapidly to fill all the vacant posts.
he/she said that recruitment to vacant posts in central universities is a continuous process, which is going on at an unprecedented pace. Pradhan said that the Modi government is working rapidly to fill all these vacant posts by taking all sections along. This is why despite the increase in the number of sanctioned posts in 2024 (18,940) as compared to 2014, the total number of vacancies has decreased from 37% to 26.8% today. he/she further said, “More than 6,890 academic posts have been recruited in the last two years. Of these, 939 (13.6%) are from SC, 464 (6.7%) are from ST, 1535 (22.27%) are from OBC and 348 (5.05%) ) are from EWS.