NEW DELHI: There was
chaos at Daulat Ram
on Wednesday after the college decided to close
admission to certain subject combinations in its BA programme. Parents and members of ABVP surrounded the principal later in the day, forcing the administration to allow students who were denied admission in the middle of the process to secure a seat. Those who had come to the college to make use of the last day for admission, however, were turned away.
The college also saw violence by ABVP students. Police were called in and an FIR lodged in the matter.
The chaos started in the morning after the administration decided to keep parents out of the campus, allowing only those students who had an admission form and needed to complete the formalities to enter. The restless parents requested guards to let them in, but to no avail. One such parent complained: “I have come from Rajasthan. They want certificates from my employer that I am not a resident of Delhi when the last date to submit application is tomorrow. They also want a fitness certificate from a doctor, but I don’t know anybody here. From where do I get the fitness certificate at such a short notice?” There were many others who claimed that the college had not mentioned anywhere on its website the documents needed to complete admission.
Several students claimed they were denied subjects of their choice. One such student was Sunaina, who was told that she could not secure admission in BA programme for political science and history subjects because there were lower number of seats and preference would be given to OBC, SC and ST applicants. She said a teacher at verification desk suggested that she take political science and Hindi instead, with history as an elective. Many applicants complained that teachers were trying to manipulate their choices, asking them to take less popular subjects like physical education, music and sanskrit as core subjects.
As it turned out, the problem of admission was only with the BA programme, as those applying to other courses were able to finish off the process smoothly.
A topper from Himachal Pradesh — scheduled to be felicitated by chief minister
Virbhadra Singh for merit — was told that seats were full. “My child is going to be awarded by the CM tomorrow in Simla. I should be on my way to make it in time. But I am stuck here fighting with the administration,” said Mamta, the applicant’s mother. She eventually left the college at 7.30pm after completing the admission process to the BA programme.
Only later did the administration clarify that certain subject combinations under the BA programme, such as political science and history, maths and economics, and psychology and philosophy, had closed down. Preeti Kapoor, head of admissions committee, said the political science and history combination had enrolled five times the capacity of students. After being cornered by students, principal Savita Roy wrote on an application that seats to BA (progamme) history and political science were full.
Parents blamed the low cutoff this year for the chaos. However, they pointed out that as per DU guidelines, a college has to admit all students that fall in the merit bracket, irrespective of seat availability. This was confirmed by the officials of dean of student welfare.
“They should have told us from Day 1 that it’s going to be first-come-first-serve basis. Now, it’s almost time to close admissions for the day, so we cannot even go any other college,” said one parent. These students were worst off, because with the end of admission for first cutoff list, they would not be eligible under subsequent lists in other colleges either. Several such students rely on their percentage and DU cut off trends and do not apply to other universities. For them, this is a waste of year.
Earlier, ABVP activists stormed the college, gheraoed the principal and used force to physically push their way through to the college administration. In the melee, a student fainted in the office. The student group members broke flower pots on the campus, laid siege on the principal’s office and kicked through locked doors in agitation. During the chaos, a meeting was also held by the university officials with college authorities.
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