NEW DELHI, May 27 – India’s opposition leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of systematically excluding members of marginalized communities from leadership positions in higher education, calling the practice of labelling candidates as “Not Found Suitable” (NFS) a modern-day form of caste discrimination.
In a post on social media platform X, the Congress leader said qualified candidates from Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC) were being unfairly disqualified for faculty positions in premier institutions. He referred to the NFS classification as a “new form of Manuvaad,” invoking a term used to criticize caste-based hierarchies rooted in ancient Hindu texts.
“’Not Found Suitable’ is the new Manuvaad,” Gandhi wrote. “Qualified SC/ST/OBC candidates are being deliberately disqualified – to keep them away from education and leadership.”
Citing official data, Gandhi claimed that more than 60% of reserved posts for professors and over 30% of associate professor positions in Delhi University remain unfilled due to the NFS categorization. He said similar patterns of exclusion were evident in other institutions, including Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and central universities.
“This is no exception – IITs, Central Universities, the same conspiracy is going on everywhere,” he said. “NFS is an attack on the Constitution. NFS is a betrayal of social justice.” The Modi government has not immediately responded to the allegations.
Gandhi, who serves as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, also criticized the government for undermining the vision of B.R. Ambedkar, the architect of India’s Constitution and a strong advocate for affirmative action in education and employment. “Babasaheb had said: Education is the biggest weapon for equality. But the Modi government is busy blunting that weapon,” he said.
He added that he had spoken with student leaders from Delhi University and vowed to mobilize a collective response to what he described as anti-reservation policies pursued by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ideological ally, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
