Chaos peppered with some excitement

There is a crowd of DU aspirants jostling for space on either side of Patel Marg. Students flanked by their parents, siblings and friends try hard to find a place in the serpentine queue that extends till the main gate of Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC).

In one word it’s ‘chaos’. Those standing on the Daulat Ram College lane are braving the blistering heat awaiting their turn to procure their Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) admission form. Meanwhile, those on the other side too are a harried lot, struggling to fill the Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) forms which they received after toiling hard.

Many did find a place on the footpath to settle down whereas few made motorbike and scooter seats their table to fill up the forms. 

Worse, the Police which should have controlled the traffic were acting like mere spectators. In the absence of basic facilities like water and tent, that could have given relief to students from the scorching sun, the first day of DU admission turned out to be disappointing and very stressful in comparison to last year which was better managed. 

Suyash Shukla, who came along with his father Ajay Shukla all the way from Farrukhabad was one amongst those students who were sitting on the footpath to fill the OMR sheet. 

“What is more important, getting admission in DU or looking for comfortable arrangement?” questions Ajay, who came to Delhi on Sunday just to get the form.

“Finally after standing for half-an-hour in the queue my son has got the form. I am hopeful he will get admission in a good college too,” says the hopeful father.

Many students living in the NCR, excited about applying in DU, decided to stay at their relative’s place, near North Campus prior to the admission day.  

Faridabad-based Simran Kaur, landed at her uncle’s place in Civil Lines on Sunday evening.

“For the last one hour I’ve been standing in the queue. There’s no point coming to the campus early. I thought I shouldn’t waste time in commuting from Faridabad to North Campus on admission day but it’s of no use,” says Simran, who has scored 90 per cent in her Board exam and is hopeful of getting Economics (Hons) in a good college. 

Somehow, the much criticised concept of four year did not keep many students away from DU. 

Wing Commander SK Misra, who came directly from his office to collect the form for his daughter says, “DU is the only option when it comes to good university. So, you can’t ignore it even if you are not happy with certain things.”

Meanwhile the admission process in Hansraj College and SGTB Khalsa was systematic. Students easily received forms without any rush. Also, admission seekers were allowed to sit in the classroom to easily fill up their forms.

Again, the college faculty was present to guide students. Dr Rajan Walia, Assistant Professor, Physics, Hansraj College says, “We are getting queries on courses, colleges and cut off. There are even questions about eligibility criteria.” 

Volunteers of ABVP, NSUI and other student organisations were also seen helping students. Kanika, an ABVP volunteer, handling information desk outside DRC says, “Students are scared because they are confused about selecting courses. As there is no help desk set up by the University authorities, clueless students are depending on us for help. They don’t have time to read the prospectus and so filling form gets confusing.”

These student organisations also criticised DU administration for the unsatisfactory management.  

Dhruv Sangwan of Indian National Students Organisation says, “Like last year, administration could have made Arts Faculty the main admission centre. But just to keep student unions at bay from reaching fresh batches of students, they decided to keep only three admission centres in the campus. They don’t want any student to get influenced by organisations that are highlighting practical problems in DU.”