The Union government should have no qualms in introducing the Bill that prevents caste-based reservations at the faculty level in the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

The Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Posts and Services Reservation) Bill is to be tabled in Parliament on Thursday. The Bill rules out reservations in IITs. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati has written a letter to the Union government opposing the Bill.

There are no grounds for faculty reservations in higher education institutions such as IITs and the Indian Institutes of Management.

The logic of reservations flows from deprivation. These are most acute at the school and university student levels. Once individuals possess high qualifications, such as a PhD, their deprivation level is much less, if non-existent. In such situations, merit and competition ought to be the criteria for selection.

Mayawati’s argument is plainly political and violates the ideals with which the IITs and other institutions were established.