Hyderabad: Alleging that the Centre is trying to end reservations in universities, students, SC/ST/OBC teachers and non-teaching staff of the University of Hyderabad have decided to protest against the new roster policy issued by Ministry of Human Resource Development on April 5.

Speaking to CNN News 18, Sreepati Ramudu, member of SC/ST Faculty Forum at University of Hyderabad, said, "The UGC order of new roster would abolish the reservations for SC, ST and OBC. The protest is to uphold the sanctity of the Constitution and to protect the rights of SC/ST/OBC faculty".

As per the former policy, roster points were allotted at university level, treating the university as a single unit. However, the new MHRD policy treats individual departments as unit and provides roster points at departmental level.

"The new MHRD policy has outsourced the responsibility of diverse hiring on the departments themselves. The departmental vacancies are usually in small numbers and it will bring down the number of SC/ST/OBC faculty. Moreover, many small departments will never get reserved positions,"Ramudu added.

The protest is to demand inclusive and comprehensive reservation policy in universities, so that marginalised groups have adequate representation in the staff room.

After Dalit outrage over alleged dilution of SC/ST Act, the protests at the university are likely to create more trouble for the Centre.