Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal (PTI photo)
“Sadda Haq — We demand admission quota for Delhi Domicile Students.” Posters with such words have come up across Delhi University. The demand for reservation for students from the capital has seen a resurgence this year, with the campaign being led by Delhi BJP MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa and BJP MP Parvesh Verma.
On Sunday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that there should be reservation for Delhi students “at least in DU colleges under the Delhi government”. There are 12 colleges, which are fully funded by the city government, while 16 of them receive 5 per cent grant-in-aid.
Leaders from various parties echoed the view. They said Delhi students need reservation as they are losing out to students from other state boards, who get high marks and take seats in popular colleges such as SRCC, Hindu College and others. The university has, on several occasions, clarified that being a central university, it cannot grant reservation. The university only provides reservation for OBC/SC/ST, children of war widows, Kashmiri migrants and students with disabilities.
This new campaign, ‘Sadda Haq’, requires one to give a missed call to the number on the poster to register their support. A petition has also been started at change.org, which states that reservation for Delhi students is a must as they are forced to move to other states for admission to colleges.
“If DU gives 75% Delhi domicile reservation in PG medical courses for students hailing from Delhi, who have completed their studies in Delhi, it is also legal and justified to ask the same kind of reservation for undergraduate courses,” reads the petition. Many students and parents, however, said the campaign seemed to be a “political stunt”.