New Delhi: The discrepancies in implementation of the reservation policy in the recruitment process of 69,000 assistant teachers in Uttar Pradesh have pushed the Yogi Adityanath government on the backfoot. The matter has also brought to the fore the contradictory positions on the issue within the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government, with deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya deviating from the stance of chief minister Adityanath.
The Allahabad high court recently set aside the selection lists issued on June 1, 2020 and January 5, 2022 by the government for the recruitment of 69,000 assistant teachers in the state and directed it to release a fresh list of the selected candidates within three months. The exams were held in 2019 and since then the recruitment process has been mired in controversies, in particular, over anomalies in implementing reservation for reserved category candidates.
Some reserved candidates had contended that there were discrepancies in the reservation policy as despite securing more marks than the cut-off for general candidates, they were not allowed to be considered for recruitment under the general posts. As a result of this, they alleged, due representation was not given to the reserved category as per their prescribed quota and more than 50% of the general category candidates were selected. In other words, the Meritorious Reserved Category (MRC) candidates were placed in the reserved category instead of being placed in the general category.
The matter became a hot potato for the Adityanath government, as legal battles stalled its recruitment drive and it faced allegations of running against the interests of OBC and Dalit aspirants.
The government eventually admitted to anomalies in the reservation policy and, in a last-ditch move ahead of the 2022 Assembly election, decided to appoint an additional 6,800 reserved category candidates as teachers. However, this decision was stalled by the Allahabad high court.
Over the last five years, both general and reserved category candidates have taken the matter to court, questioning the recruitment process. Additionally, there was a prolonged protest in Lucknow by OBC and Dalit candidates waiting for their appointments. They alleged that they were being deprived of jobs as part of a scam.
The ‘69,000’ question hurt the BJP in both the 2022 and 2024 elections, as opposition parties – the Congress and Samajwadi Party – lent support to the agitation and dubbed the government as being against job aspirants from marginalised and reserved category communities.
The high court on August 13 asked the Adityanath government to implement the reservation policy – after preparing the fresh lists of 69,000 candidates – as envisaged under Section 3 (6) of the Uttar Pradesh Public Services (Reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes) Act, 1994. A division bench of Justices Brij Raj Singh and Attau Rahman Masoodi, hearing a bunch of no less than 91 appeal petitions, ruled that if a reserved category candidate acquires marks equivalent to the merit prescribed for the general category, then the MRC candidate shall be migrated to the general category.
These appeals challenged the decision of a single-judge bench which had in March 2023, among other things, ruled that candidates who had benefited from reservations in the Teacher Eligibility Test should not be considered under the general category even if they scored marks as per the cut-off for the general category.
The latest high court ruling brought relief to protesting OBC and Dalit candidates, who hailed it as vindication of their on-ground struggle. Maurya as well as Union minister and BJP ally Anupriya Patel, both OBCs, were quick to congratulate the candidates.
Patel, who flagged the issue of rejection of OBC and Dalit candidates in government posts under the Adityanath government in June, said she welcomed the court’s decision. “The National Commission for Backward Classes had itself admitted that reservation rules were overlooked in this recruitment. Now that the high court has ordered that a new merit list be prepared in full compliance with the reservation rules, I hope justice will be done to the deprived classes,” Patel said.
Till the deprived sections don’t get justice in this matter, she said she would make all possible efforts to ensure that it reaches a “logical conclusion.”
Maurya welcomed the court’s decision, saying that it was a “welcome step in the direction of social justice.” More importantly, he also put his weight behind the protesting candidates, whom he had met and extended support to last month. “This is the victory of those backward class and Dalit candidates who waged a long struggle for their rights,” he said.
What’s notable here is that, although the Adityanath government on the evening of August 18 indicated it would follow the high court’s directions and not challenge them in the Supreme Court, just three weeks earlier, Adityanath himself had labelled the protest by the recruitment candidates as a “conspiracy” of the opposition SP
Speaking at the state executive meeting of the BJP’s OBC Morcha in Lucknow on July 29, Adityanath said those protesting in the 69,000 matter were “pawns” of the SP. He alleged that questions were being asked as part of a design to “defame and conspire” and make the recruitment process “controversial,” because the opposition was troubled by the recruitment of a high number of OBC candidates. According to Adityanath, 31,500 OBCs were recruited as teachers. The recruitment of OBCs would have been just 18,200 if the recruitment was only based on the 27% reservations granted to OBCs, he said.
With Maurya backing the protesting candidates, the contradiction between his position and that of Adityanath’s became stark. This was flagged by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, who said that Maurya’s comments were also a part of a “conspiracy” to mislead the candidates through doublespeak by the government. “First, he was himself involved with the government in usurping the rights of reservation and when the youth fought against him and secured justice after a long struggle, he came forward to prove himself as sympathetic,” said Yadav on X on August 18.
Yadav further said, “In fact, this ‘kripa-prapt’ (recipient of mercy) deputy CM does not stand with the candidates of the teacher recruitment. He is merely playing his political cards within the BJP. The ‘honourable’ person whom he is indirectly pointing fingers at in this matter also understands this game of internal politics.”
The theory of an ongoing tussle between Adityanath and Maurya, himself a chief ministerial aspirant, was strengthened when the latter, in a review meeting of the 2024 election result declared from open stage that the organisation was bigger than the government. For subtext, Maurya is a party organisation man, who climbed up the ranks of the RSS-BJP, while Adityanath is the head of the state with little formal role in the party organisation. It was a direct attack on Adityanath by Maurya, who has been his deputy in the government since 2017.
Maurya also triggered speculation when last month he shot off a letter to the UP Appointment and Personnel department seeking details of the implementation of the reservation for OBCs, Dalits and tribals in the recruitment of contractual and outsourced staff in government departments. Importantly, the UP Appointment and Personnel department falls under Adityanath’s direct command, and Maurya’s move to project himself as an OBC voice turned out to play a bigger role in exposing the internal contradictions within the government.
Following the high court decision, the state’s basic education department apprised Adityanath with “all the facts” of the case on August 18. Adityanath then directed the basic education department to take action as per the observations of the apex court and the directions of the high court in the matter.
“The UP government is of the clear opinion that the reserved category candidates must avail the benefit of the reservation policy and that injustice should not be done to any candidate,” Adityanath said.
Sandeep Singh, UP’s basic education minister, said the government would follow the rules of reservation in the matter and implement it within the time limit. “The government will not allow anything wrong to happen with the future of any person of any category or with the future of the youth of this state,” said Singh.
