New Delhi- As the Bahujan community observes Dalit History Month in April, a recent Right to Information (RTI) response from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A) has brought to light the category-wise distribution of its faculty positions.

Gowd Kiran Kumar, National President of the All India OBC Students Association (AIOBCSA), filed the RTI application on January 28. In its reply, IIM Ahmedabad stated that the institute has 120 sanctioned faculty posts for Professors, Associate Professors and Assistant Professors combined. Out of these, 100 posts are filled and 20 remain vacant. According to the data shared in the RTI response, out of the 100 filled positions, 99 belong to the General category and only 1 belongs to the OBC category at the Assistant Professor level. No filled positions were reported from SC, ST, EWS or PwD categories.

This RTI revelation comes at a time when the struggle for implementation of reservation policies in higher education continues. On January 29, the Supreme Court stayed the University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026, with the earlier 2012 regulations remaining in force.

Across 13 IIMs, 82.8% of faculty are from the General category, while representation for SCs (5%), STs (1%), and OBCs (9.6%) falls drastically short of the mandated 15%, 7.5%, and 27%, respectively.

A 2024 response from IIM Indore showed out of 150 faculty positions, a staggering number of vacancies in reserved categories have been left unaddressed. 106 are filled by General Category candidates, leaving 41 positions vacant. There were only 2 Assistant Professors in OBC category whole none from SC/ST categories.

According to an RTI response received in October 2024, the total sanctioned faculty strength at IIM Calcutta stood at 126. Yet, data indicated significant deviations in filling these positions based on the reservation policy. 53 were allocated for unreserved (UR) candidates. The RTI revealed that a total of 73 UR faculty members were recruited, an overfill of 20 positions beyond the allocated limit and an additional 20 UR positions was vacant.

Another RTI findingfrom IIM Tiruchirapalli found shocking data: 83.33% of OBC, 86.66% of SC, and 100% of ST faculty positions were vacant, even though all General Category positions were filled.

Multiple reports indicate that in many of the premier institutes, over 80 per cent of faculty members belong to the General category, with several institutions recording more than 90 per cent representation from this category. The Mooknayak has covered comparable findings in the past, including detailed reports where a large number of reserved category posts for SC, ST and OBC categories remain vacant or unfilled for years.

The data from IIT Delhi, Kharagpur, Kanpur, Roorkee, BHU, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Gandhinagar, Ropar, Palakkad, Mandi, Jodhpur, Bhubaneswar, Indore, Tirupati, Dharwad, Goa, and Patna reveals a recurring theme: a significant overrepresentation of the General category and a severe shortfall in the representation of OBC, SC, and ST communities.

Faculty Data from the IITs

• IIT Palakkad: Out of 161 faculty members, 121 (75.15%) are from the General category, OBC 24 (14.9%), SC 15 (9.31%), and only 1 (0.62%) from the ST category. There is not a single SC or ST professor at the institute.

• IIT BHU (Varanasi): Of the 344 faculty members, 79.36% are General, 11.63% OBC, 7.85% SC, and only 1.16% ST. The institute has 260 vacant posts out of 608 sanctioned, but failed to provide a category-wise breakup of these vacancies.

• IIT Kharagpur: This large institute has 775 faculty members, with the General category holding a dominant 91.22% share. OBC representation is a mere 5.55%, SC is 2.71%, and ST is a negligible 0.26%. A staggering 825 out of 1600 sanctioned posts are vacant, with no category-wise data provided.

• IIT Gandhinagar: Among 135 faculty, 85.93% are from the General category, OBC 5.93%, SC 5.91%, and ST 2.96%. At the Professor level, representation from OBC, SC, and ST is zero.

• IIT Ropar: Out of 177 faculty, 78.53% are General, 14.69% OBC, 5.65% SC, and 1.69% ST.

• IIT Patna: One of the few institutes to provide category-wise sanctioned post data. Out of 390 sanctioned posts, 228 are filled. Of the filled positions, OBC constitutes 38.16%, SC 21.49%, and ST 12.72%, figures that are relatively better than other IITs.

• IIT Roorkee: Has 939 sanctioned posts, but only 533 are filled. The institute did not provide any category-wise breakdown for sanctioned, filled, or vacant posts.

• IIT Tirupati: Of the 114 faculty, 69.30% are General, 18.42% OBC, 8.77% SC, and 2.63% ST.

• IIT Mandi: Out of 175 faculty, 81.14% are General, 11.43% OBC, 5.71% SC, and 1.71% ST. At the Professor level, there are zero OBC, SC, and ST faculty members.

• IIT Bhubaneswar: Among 213 faculty, 80.28% are General, 13.15% OBC, 5.63% SC, and just 0.46% ST.

• IIT Jodhpur: Of the 244 faculty, 79.10% are General, 13.11% OBC, 6.15% SC, and 0.82% ST.

• IIT Delhi: Out of 633 faculty, an overwhelming 88.94% are from the General category. OBC representation is just 7.11%, SC 2.68%, and ST 1.10%. The institute has 460 vacant posts out of 1093 sanctioned, with no category-wise details of these vacancies.

• IIT Goa: Of the 62 faculty, 67.74% are General, 19.35% OBC, 8.06% SC, and 1.61% ST.

• IIT Indore: Another institute that provided detailed data. Of the 92 faculty, 50% are General, 32.61% OBC, 15.22% SC, and 2.17% ST.

• IIT Guwahati: Among 454 faculty, 88.11% are General, 5.07% OBC, 4.84% SC, and 1.98% ST. The institute reported 103 General vacancies, 78 OBC vacancies, 44 SC vacancies, and 22 ST vacancies.

• IIT Hyderabad: Of the 322 faculty, 74.84% are General, 15.84% OBC, 8.07% SC, and 0.93% ST.

• IIT Dharwad: Among 93 faculty, 72.04% are General, 17.20% OBC, 5.38% SC, and 3.27% ST.

• IIT Kanpur: Out of 564 faculty, 87.41% are from the General category. OBC representation is just 7.80%, SC is 4.26%, and ST is a mere 0.89%. At the Professor level, there are only 3 OBCs, and zero SCs and STs.

These patterns highlight the ongoing challenges faced by Central Universities, IITs and IIMs in implementing reservation norms for faculty recruitment and promotion. In analyses of RTI data on faculty representation in IITs, Dr Kanchana Yadav has pointed out the persistent gaps in reserved category appointments.

The lack of diversity among faculty members at IITs and IIMs poses significant implications for the quality of education and the representation of varied perspectives in management studies. Affirmative action policies are designed to bridge the socio-economic divide, yet the persistent exclusion of marginalized communities signals an urgent need for reform.

The latest IIM Ahmedabad RTI response adds to the documented record of under-representation of SC, ST, OBC, EWS and PwD categories in faculty positions at these institutions of national importance.