Did Modi's government really ensure social justice? Dharmendra Pradhan challenges Rahul Gandhi's claims

New Delhi, May 27 (NationPress) Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has delivered a strong rebuttal to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his assertions regarding systemic bias against Dalit and OBC students in central universities.

In response to Gandhi's claims about the "Not Found Suitable" designation used in faculty hiring, Pradhan accused him and the Congress party of spreading misinformation while neglecting their own historical record.

On X, Pradhan stated, “Rahul Gandhi and the entire Congress party have transformed into the leading proponents of deceit. The so-called royal family of Congress has persistently betrayed the interests of Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC). The prince of the party seems unaware of his family's history of neglecting the marginalized.”

He further contended that Congress relies on an "imported toolkit" to fabricate narratives and misguide the public. “Occasionally, Congress appears with a bag of lies, aiming to divert attention from its own shortcomings,” he remarked.

Pradhan presented statistics to counter Gandhi’s assertions, revealing that when the UPA government ended in 2014, a significant portion of teaching posts earmarked for SCs, STs, and OBCs in central universities remained unfilled – 57% for SCs, 63% for STs, and 60% for OBCs.

“In contrast, under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, our administration not only initiated the process of filling these vacancies but also increased the total number from 16,217 in 2014 to 18,940. The overall vacancy rate has decreased from 37% to 25.95%,” he stated, noting that recruitment efforts are ongoing.

He also underscored the rise in reserved category faculty appointments in esteemed institutions like IITs and NITs during the Modi administration.

“From 2004 to 2014, IITs had merely 83 SC, 14 ST, and 166 OBC faculty members. NITs had only 261 SC, 72 ST, and 334 OBC appointments. However, from 2014 to 2024, these figures surged dramatically -- to 398 SC, 99 ST, and 746 OBC appointments in IITs, and 929 SC, 265 ST, and 1510 OBC appointments in NITs,” he detailed.

Furthermore, he credited the Modi government for abolishing the mandatory PhD requirement for Assistant Professors, which had posed a barrier for numerous candidates from underprivileged backgrounds.

Regarding the contentious "Not Found Suitable" label, Pradhan attributed its origin to Congress-era policies.

“The NFS categorization that Rahul Gandhi is criticizing stems from Congress’ anti-Dalit, anti-OBC, and anti-deprived mentality. This practice continued for decades following Independence, despite Babasaheb Ambedkar’s vision,” he asserted.

Pradhan emphasized that it was under Modi's administration that this injustice was finally addressed through legislative measures.

“In 2019, we enacted the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers’ Cadre) Act, which effectively terminated the practice of filling reserved category positions with candidates from other categories. This was a significant advancement towards ensuring the constitutional rights of SC, ST, and OBC communities are honored in practice,” he stated.

The Union Minister accused Congress of being oblivious to positive transformations. “The Congress party is afflicted with political jaundice – everything they perceive is tainted. They invoke the Constitution at every opportunity but are its largest violators. The nation’s youth are not gullible. They recognize who has genuinely advocated for social justice – it is Prime Minister Modi's administration,” he asserted.

Pradhan’s comments were made in reaction to Rahul Gandhi’s statements following his engagement with students from the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU).

During this interaction, students expressed their concerns regarding matters such as discrimination, administrative bias, and the application of the "Not Found Suitable" category to deny opportunities to Dalit and OBC candidates.

Gandhi described the NFS label as “a new form of assault” against socially disadvantaged groups and urged students to recognize the deeper issue of systemic exclusion.