More than 30 members of Parliament on Thursday wrote to Minister of Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar alleging that Jawaharlal Nehru University was violating reservation policies in admissions for the 2018-’19 academic year.

Parliamentarians from the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and YSR Congress Party wrote the letter.

They said “removal of the reservation policy for the SC/ST/OBC [Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes] and PWD [persons with disabilities] in JNU is evident from the clauses” imposed in the university’s admission rules on MPhil and PhD courses this year, according to News18.

The letter said the clauses have made the written entrance exam a qualifying paper and viva voce the sole criteria for admission. All candidates with 50% in the written exam will qualify for the viva. Earlier, candidates were selected based on the combined marks of the entrance exam and viva.

The MPs said that by inserting these new clauses, JNU has violated the Central Education Institution Reservation in Admissions Act, 2006. “The university has also violated the constitutional provision of access to higher education for SC/STs in violation with Article 15 (1) and 15 (4) of the Constitution and Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989,” they said in the letter.

On Wednesday, members of the JNU Students’ Union had written to the Lok Sabha, seeking the intervention of MPs to restore the reservation policy at the university.