Delhi University’s decision allowing colleges to admit five students above the sanctioned strength on a discretionary basis has drawn criticism from members of the central varsity’s academic council, who have written to Vice Chancellor PC Joshi, asking him to withdraw the controversial order.
In the letter, Academic Council members Deo Kumar, Kanchan, Rajesh Kumar, and Saikat Ghosh have alleged that providing college principals and university officials with such discretionary powers seriously “compromises transparency.”
AC members also said that the decision to allow colleges to use their discretion to admit five students is an attempt to “restart opaque practices in the name of COVID 19.”
What is the role of COVID19 in this admission process?
Delhi University had set-up a committee after a few colleges requested it to explore the possibility of providing “a few seats to the college in view of COVID-19 pandemic for admissions to UG Courses, over and above the sanctioned strength as supernumerary seats.”
Although the circular mentions COVID-19 as the driving force behind this mode of admission, there’s no mention of COVID-19 affected candidates or children of COVID warriors in guidelines issued by the university for admissions under this scheme.
How will students be admitted?
Are college principals allowed to offer admission to a student based only on merit?
A senior Delhi University official, who did not wish to be named, said that principals can choose any student as long as they fall within the “five percent relaxation rule.” The official added that although college principals can offer admission to someone whose merit is 10 percent lesser than the last cut off, they should only exercise this option sparingly.
So, who exactly will get admission under this scheme?
The official clarified that this mode of admission is mostly for children of college staff, who may have missed out on admission by a few marks.
Dismissing allegations of non-transparency, the official said that since the margin of cut-off relaxation was so little, the decision cannot in anyway be termed as corrupt or unethical.
Asked about how and who will decide on the two names that “may be suggested by the university” in every college, the official said the varsity will not suggest any name for admission under this scheme.
The real purpose, behind this rider, was to discourage colleges from suggesting more than three names, knowing that the university could suggest two more.
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