Reserved category students' wait for late admissions not over yet

Forty reserved category students who are requesting for late admissions in Delhi University colleges are still waiting for the process to start. A majority of the 40 student are from outside Delhi.

“We had a meeting with the dean of students’ welfare, who told us that there has been no directive or a circular from the union human resource development ministry yet, and they can’t do anything without it. We are planning to file a complaint with the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission now,” said Sujit Kumar, an activist working for SC and ST students.

On July 6, a delegation of activists and students working for reserved category students met union human resource development minister Kapil Sibal, who reportedly assured that the reservation policy will be implemented properly.

“Of the 40 students, there are many who could not get admissions due to technical glitches or were unable to complete admission formalities due to time constraints,” said Kumar.

“Sibal had assured us that DU will do everything possible to fix problems faced by the students. But even the union HRD ministry has given nothing in writing yet,” added Kumar.

Several outstation students said they were unable to get admission information due to limitations in their villages. “I found out about DU admissions on the last day. I don’t have access to quick information or a computer. By the time news started spreading about admissions, it was late,” said Ravi, a resident of Kaithal in Haryana.

This year, at least 24,000 students have applied for various courses in DU from the SC and ST categories, of which 12,000 students were allotted seats.

“We complained to Sibal that admissions to reserved category students should not be based on the sanctioned strength but should be open to everyone making the cut-off,” said another delegation member who met Sibal.

“Other Backward Classes category students were also facing a similar problem, and Sibal had instructed DU to provide reservation to such students on the total intake and not on sanctioned seats,” said the member.

At least 10,000 students were admitted over the sanctioned strength last year in DU in general category. “But DU denies admissions to eligible reserved category candidates.

In genuine cases and where DU is at fault, it should take late admissions,” said a member of the delegation. An official from the DSW office said they cannot allow late admissions without any directive from the union HRD ministry.