By Aashique Hussain
New Delhi [India], July 25 : Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan responded to Rahul Gandhi's tweet regarding the vacant OBC and SC/ST posts. He said that Rahul Gandhi has always practised the politics of falsehood.
According to Pradhan, Rahul has consistently been against the poor, the oppressed, and marginalised sections of society.
He alleged that during the Congress government, OBC posts were often marked as "not suitable" and then given to candidates from the General Category.
"In our tenure, we have increased the number of posts, and a greater number of OBC candidates are getting jobs now compared to before," Pradhan said.
Pradhan stated that in 2014, 37 per cent of the 16,217 sanctioned posts in Central Universities were vacant. A staggering 57 per cent of SC, 63 per cent of ST, and 60 per cent of OBC posts were vacant.
He further said that in 2004, there were 24.46 per cent vacancies (1,817 vacant teaching positions) in the teaching cadre across all Central Universities, which rose to 36.04 per cent by 2014 (5,883 vacant teaching positions). From 2014 onwards, seven additional Central Universities have been established, and there has been a concomitant increase in the sanctioned strength of teaching posts, from 16,324 in 2014 to 19,951 in 2025. However, the vacancies in teaching positions were reduced by 10.3 per cent to 25.7 per cent as of July 1.
He also said that the Modi government has walked the talk; we've not just promised inclusiveness, we've delivered it. We've increased sanctioned posts to 18,951 in 2025 and reduced vacancies from 37 per cent to 25.80 per cent. Over 8,150 teaching positions have been filled, including 13 per cent SC, 6.6 per cent ST, and 22.8 per cent OBC candidates.
The Congress government's record over a decade (2004-2014) for IITs and IIMs. Under their tenure, IITs hired only 83 SC, 14 ST, and 166 OBC faculty members, while IIMs added a mere 4 SC, 3 ST, and 8 OBC faculty. In NITs, only 261 SC, 72 ST and 334 OBC faculty were added, he noted.
Pradhan stated that in comparison, the Modi government, in 2014-2024, has transformed the inclusiveness landscape: IITs have recruited 398 SC, 99 ST, and 746 OBC faculty, IIMs have brought in 68 SC, 16 ST, and 115 OBC faculty members, and NITs have added 929 SC, 265 ST and 1,510 OBC faculty. A total of 1,319 posts were filled in IITs, 199 posts in IIMs and 2704 posts OBC categories a quantum leap towards true inclusiveness. This is not mere from SC, ST, and statistics; the Modi government is committed towards addressing the needs of the underrepresented groups, he added.
He said that the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers' Cadre) Act, 2019, was introduced by the Modi government. Under the Modi government, reservation is a policy and commitment, and not mere "tokenism". In fact, Congress consciously did not bring a law to mandate OBC reservation in the posts of professors and associate professors in CUs. This isn't just governance. It's justice in action, he said.