DU makes room for deserving candidates

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Hopes are many, and so are the number of courses and aspirants. But it’s only the quantity of seats, which usually create a fuss every time the enrollment process in Delhi University kicks off. And keeping in mind, the increasing number of applicants every year (and of course, to implement the 27 per cent quota for OBCs), Delhi University has once again increased the number of seats for its undergraduate courses, which would be applicable from this year’s academic session. By adding 5,000 more seats in the courses, the university has increased its overall number of seats to 54,000, and as many are speculating, this move will tighten the enrollment process, and will trigger stiff competition even among the meritorious.
“Basically the aim behind increasing the seats is to accommodate more students from the reserved categories. While the general category would undergo slight alteration in terms of seats, it’s the OBC and SC/ST quotas, which will witness major adjustments,” opines Dr S.K. Vij, dean of Delhi University Students’ Welfare Association. “Quite a few things have changed in DU over the years, and the most radical of those are the required cut-offs for courses. When I enrolled myself three years ago, I got into my college’s English department with just 80 per cent marks, but today the cut-off has gone up to 90 and above. By increasing the number of seats, the administration has definitely waged a cutthroat competition even between the commendable students in the admission race,” opines Samridhi Tanti, third year student of Miranda House. “I can assure meritorious students that they won’t face any problem as far as issues like cut-off hike and accommodation are concerned as some courses in the upcoming cut-off lists might see a fall this year. Moreover, all the colleges have been given an infrastructural stipend, and any percentage above 90 would be enough for a student to secure a seat in his/her desired course,” adds Dr Vij.
However, the faculty of the university feels that though this is a healthy thing in the long-term, in the short-term it will definitely have a few problems, and the first being infrastructure. Professor Tapan Basu of the Hindu College feels that such changes can’t be implemented overnight, and hence would be a slow process.