Amid the admission hype all around the capital, the Delhi Assembly has passed a resolution to reserve 85% seats in at least 28 colleges of Delhi University for students who’ve passed out of Delhi schools. Twelve colleges of the central university are fully funded, and 16 are partially funded by the state. The reason behind this resolution is that these funds are accumulated by taxes that are paid by the citizens of Delhi.
Atishi Marlena, advisor to the Delhi Education Minister, explained another reason behind this move, “Around 2.5 lakh students pass out from Delhi schools every year and only 28,000 of them are able to secure a seat in DU colleges.” Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia clarified that the Delhi government does not want to promote ‘regionalism’ through this demand and will accept a relaxation of 5-10 marks in the cut-off for Delhi students as well. There’s no clarity on whether this will be implemented, if at all, from this academic session or the next.
Delhi University is one of the best universities in our country, and very few state universities match up to it. So, on the one hand, this move will be beneficial for school students in Delhi, and on the other, it will be a loss for students out of Delhi as they may have to take admission in state universities that aren’t known to be as good. Is it acceptable to explore regional reservation at the cost of thousands of students who might be preparing for DU?
Professor Abha Dev Habib of DU doesn’t think so. She says, “Delhi has the privilege of having six central universities. This has created educational and job opportunities, which have benefitted Delhi for decades. This privilege cannot be extended!” She further spoke about an alternate solution to Delhi students not getting admission in DU, “Public spending in education has to be increased, more schools and colleges have to be started. I think this move is coming to appease the middle class of Delhi. The BJP, and now AAP has made these promises without respecting the nature of University of Delhi.”
Moreover, state universities like Ambedkar University, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University already have 85% seats reserved for Delhi students. Students in the universities face many issues regarding attendance policies and regulations, which the state government needs to looks into.
Since admissions in DU are based on merit and cut offs – it opens the door for those who are eligible irrespective of where they are from. If this is implemented, it will drastically alter opportunities for students across India.
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