Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Tuesday launched a sharp attack on the Narendra Modi-led government, accusing it of deliberately sidelining Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC) candidates in higher education through what he termed the discriminatory "Not Found Suitable" (NFS) tag.
Taking to social media platform X, Gandhi alleged that the NFS label is being systematically used to deny qualified candidates from marginalised communities their rightful place in academia, especially in leadership roles across top institutions like Delhi University, IITs, and central universities.
“'Not Found Suitable' ab naya Manuvaad hain. Qualified SC/ST/OBC candidates are being deliberately 'disqualified' — to keep them away from education and leadership. Babasaheb had said: Education is the biggest weapon for equality. But the Modi government is busy blunting that weapon,” Gandhi said in his post.
Citing data from Delhi University, Gandhi pointed out that over 60% of professor-level reserved posts and 30% of associate professor posts remain unfilled, allegedly due to the NFS categorisation.
He framed this trend as a direct assault on the legacy of Dr BR Ambedkar, arguing that the NFS tag represents a veiled continuation of caste-based exclusion. “This is no exception – IITs, Central Universities, the same conspiracy is going on everywhere. NFS is an attack on the Constitution. NFS is a betrayal of social justice,” he added.
Calling for collective resistance, Gandhi emphasized that this struggle is not just about educational opportunity, but a fight for dignity, inclusion, and constitutional rights. “This is not just a fight for education and employment — it is a fight for rights, respect and participation. I spoke to DUSU students — now together we will respond to every anti-reservation move of BJP/RSS with the power of the Constitution,” he declared.
Gandhi’s remarks come amid ongoing debates about representation and equity in India’s premier academic institutions, where multiple studies and RTI data have revealed persistent shortfalls in the implementation of reservation policies for faculty appointments.
