Admissions to some of the most prestigious colleges at the University of Delhi are often characterised by cut-throat competition and razor-sharp cutoffs. And if Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has his way, securing a seat in DU could get easier or a lot worse, depending on your domicile state.
Recently, the Aam Aadmi Party supremo suggested that the 28-odd colleges aided by his state government must allow reservations for students from Delhi. Kejriwal says that students from the national capital often fail to secure admission to various courses, as more than half of the seats are overtaken by aspirants from other states, often passing out of boards that witness much higher scores.
Over 50% DU Applicants From Delhi, But Is Reservation Really an Option?
According a Hindustan Times report, more than half of those who applied to merit-based undergraduate courses at DU this year are Delhi residents. Admission statistics from the year 2016 show a similar pattern, where out of the 57,739 applicants, over 28,731 were from Delhi.
However, introducing a form of resident quota that discriminates between students from Delhi and those from outside may not be a valid proposition, a top DU official told The Quint.
The University of Delhi is central varsity, established by an act of the Indian Parliament. Being a central university, DU enrolls students from across India. The state government, therefore, has little say in control and regulation of quotas in DU colleges.
Only those rules specified in the constitution can come into effect. At present DU, has no provisions for reservation that favors residents of Delhi. Caste-based Reservations as provided for in the constitution are prevalent in DU colleges.Top DU Official to The Quint
Who’s a ‘Delhi Student’?
But who qualifies as a student of Delhi? Are those residing in the larger National Capital Region eligible too? These are just some of the questions that one would expect the Delhi government to answer.
Top government officials told The Quint that the idea to introduce a new quota is still in its formative stages. Moreover, the operational definition of a student from Delhi hasn’t been decided on.
Nagendar Sharma, Spokesperson of the Delhi government, said a writ petition on the matter has been filed in the Delhi High Court. Final modalities of the proposal will be worked out once the court has ruled on the matter.
For now, the Delhi government intends to include students who have passed out of city schools within the ambit of its proposed reservation policy. But will students from NCR, who have completed their schooling from a Delhi school, be included in the suggested policy? The government says it is yet to decide on the finer points such as these.
Is 85% Reservation for Delhi Students Completely Impossible in UG courses?
Reservation based on domicile may not be possible in colleges affiliated to the University of Delhi, but those under the purview of state varsities can and do reserve up to 85% seats for students from Delhi.
State universities like Ambedkar University Delhi, for instance, allows students from the city to take admission under the Delhi quota. Similarly, IP university, Delhi Technical University and other state varsities offer an added advantage to Delhi students.
There are two criteria that students must meet under the Delhi Quota. They should either pass their last qualifying exam from a Delhi school or they should be from a Delhi domicile.Bindu Nair, Assistant Registrar, Ambedkar University, Delhi
The Political Chorus Around Delhi Quota
But Kejriwal isn’t alone in his demands. Top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Delhi unit too have demanded that Delhi students be given preference in college admissions.
BJP MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa and BJP MP Parvesh Verma have taken over the reigns of Sadda Haq, a campaign that propagates the right of admission for Delhi students into DU colleges. They recently met DU Vice Chancellor Yogesh Tyagi on the matter. Last year, BJP MP Vijay Goel had raised the issue of reservations in his meeting with Tyagi.
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