Log in for trouble

After the shocker of FYUP, Delhi University aspirants are facing more problems this time with the online application system. Though DU has gone all out to promote online applications - pegging it at half the price (Rs 50) of the hard copy forms (Rs 100) - technical glitches have marred the whole plan leading to long queues of students purchasing forms at centres yet again.

The first day, June 5, was especially marked by a continuous server error message on the website. Many who tried to upload their filled-in forms were stumped to see the website flash ‘server error.’ As a result many could not submit their forms despite repeated attempts, and even after they could, several preferred to come down and fill in a hard copy again.

As Preeti Gupta, an English Honours aspirant told Metrolife, “I filled in the online version but having faced so many problems in the process, I just decided to come down from Dwarka and fill in the hard copy too. I can’t take a chance with my graduation.” She collected and submitted her form at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee College in Punjabi Bagh.

Then there were problems of uploading photographs and digital signatures. Many found the website to be rejecting photographs and digital signatures even when uploaded in the right format. Other than that, the website strangely confused between the said marks of different subjects.

Brij Vyas, who is looking forward to doing BCom here, shared, “I filled in my Maths and Economics marks correctly, but after it was uploaded, it showed the marks interchanged. I contacted the DU admission help desk and they assured me that it will be corrected. I just hope that it has gone in with the correct details now.”

Even those who submitted the offline form, weren’t too happy with some ‘suspicious’ criteria. For the first time, the OMR form requires an applicant to mention his ‘family income per annum,’ ‘location of school’ and ‘type of school - government, government-aided, KV or public.’ An applicant Moyna Gaur complained, “It’s offensive. Why are they asking for such details?”

On the other hand, DU authorities, when contacted explained, “This is just for our information - to see how many outstation students we are getting and how the hostel arrangements will be made. It is anyways optional. So you can leave it if you don’t like it.”
As for the technical faults he explained, “It’s an electronic system. It may falter once in a while. But we have fine tuned it to a large extent and getting fewer complaints and more online applications now as compared to offline forms.”