IITs fail to recruit mandated SC ST, OBC faculty, RTI data reveals

Mumbai: A recent Right to Information (RTI) request filed by the Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle (APSSC) has raised serious concerns about the under-representation of faculty from Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC) across several Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). Despite a special recruitment drive launched to address this issue, key IITs, including Delhi, Bombay, Bhubaneswar, and Guwahati, have fallen short of their objectives.
At IIT Bombay, the RTI data revealed a significant lack of diversity among the faculty. While eight departments have no SC, ST or OBC faculty members at all, 25 departments are without any ST faculty, 12 have no SC representation, and another 12 have no OBC faculty. Out of more than 670 general category faculty members at the institute, only 58 are from the SC, ST, and OBC categories.
The APSSC has voiced its concerns publicly, stating on social media platform X, ‘Our latest RTI reveals that despite getting hundreds of applications, @iitbombay is not recruiting SC ST OBC faculty members and is violating the reservation norms and mission mode recruitment. Who will hold these savarna institutions accountable @EduMinOfIndia.’ (sic)
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In August 2021, the ministry of education issued a directive to all centrally funded higher education institutions, including IITs, Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), and National Institutes of Technology (NITs), to fill vacant faculty positions in reserved categories by September 2022. However, the RTI data shows that many institutions have failed to comply with these directives.
At IIT Delhi, six departments have no SC, ST or OBC faculty members. Twenty-two departments have no ST faculty, 14 departments are without SC faculty, and nine departments have no OBC representation. Similarly, at IIT Guwahati, 14 departments have no ST faculty, while six departments lack SC faculty, and five are without OBC faculty. IIT Bhubaneswar does not have a single faculty member from the ST category.
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The APSSC also shared detailed data for the application and selection of SC, ST and OBC candidates for faculty positions at IIT Bombay for 2023 and 2024. In 2023, 523 SC candidates applied but only four were selected. No ST candidates were chosen despite 96 applications, and none of the 779 OBC candidates were hired. In 2024, there was a slight improvement. Out of 44 SC applicants, two were selected, while one out of 22 ST applicants and three out of 106 OBC applicants were chosen.
In a detailed response, Prof Shireesh Kedare, the director of IIT Bombay reaffirmed the institute’s dedication to attracting top-tier teaching talent, both from India and abroad, whether for general or reserved category.
“The recruitment of faculty is a lengthy process, but we are constantly scouting for talent,” Prof Kedare stated, adding that the last special round for hiring under the government-mandated reservation took place in 2023. Prof Kedare further clarified that while candidates from reserved categories receive certain concessions such as age relaxations in line with government norms, the institute maintained a uniform recruitment process for all faculty members, ensuring that quality remained a priority. “Many faculty members from reserved categories often choose to join under the general category, opting not to disclose this fact,” Kedare noted.
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IIT Bombay, which also has 120 female faculty members, among the highest across all IITs, “continues its efforts to attract high-calibre educators while balancing its commitment to diversity and inclusion in the academic sphere”, said Prof Kedare, adding that IIT Bombay was already preparing for the next round for MMR (Mission Mode Recruitment in which the education ministry mandates the release of advertisements for candidates from the reserved categories alone). A few reserved category candidates are also selected through ads seeking applications across all categories.