In appointments to the positions of professor, assistant professor and associate professor, held at Govind Ballabh Pant Social Science Research Institute in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, there has been a controversy over the institution’s announcement that it has not got ‘qualified candidates’ for seats reserved for Other Backward Classes.Simultaneously, talk of a “viva scam” has also come to the fore in JNU.This raises the question of whether deliberate efforts are being made to keep reserved category students away from the academic world.Mukul Singh Chauhan of The Wire speaks to Laxman Yadav, assistant professor of Delhi University.