NEW DELHI: Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has requested Union education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal to amend the Delhi University (DU) Act to let the state government start more colleges.
Only 1.25 lakh students of Delhi can get admitted to city colleges despite 2.5 lakh children passing the Class XII
examinations, Kejriwal stated in a letter to Pokhriyal. The city needs many more colleges and universities, and “Delhi government is ready to invest, but there is a legal impediment”, he said later at a digital press conference.
Kejriwal said he had urged Pokhriyal to abolish Section 5 (2) of the Delhi University Act, 1922, which requires a new college in the city to be affiliated with DU.
Delhi can only take in 50% students, where will the other half go: Kejriwal
Since the cutoffs at DU colleges are touching 100%, what will happen to students who secure 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%? Kejriwal asked. “Numerically, two students are fighting for one seat, leading to a cut-throat competition and leaving behind the other 1.25 lakh students without any resource. This means that colleges in Delhi can only accommodate 50% of its students. Where will the other 50% go?”
This year, all colleges at DU have seen a rise in cutoffs compared to last year, with three courses at Lady Shri Ram College at 100%. Ambedkar University Delhi, a state government institution, also released its first list on Friday with a 99% cutoff for psychology for candidates coming from outside Delhi. DU already has 91 affiliated colleges and has not opened any in the last 30 years as it has already exceeded its capacity, the chief minister pointed out. The Act was amended in 1998 to allow IP University grant affiliation, “but now it has also surpassed its capacity”, he said.
“Students below 100% mark, too, have the right to quality higher education. High cutoffs are not the fault of students, it’s our fault. This is happening because of the lack of universities and colleges in Delhi in comparison to the everrising number of students,” said Kejriwal. “Given that Delhi is the national capital, it should have been on a par with the increasing number of students. However, there is a stark imbalance in the ratio of the number of universities to the number of students.”
Calling for a further amendment, Kejriwal said, “I am hopeful that the central government will definitely ponder over this and alter this Act to suit the need of the hour. The stress factor is escalating in students because of the system.”
DU dean of colleges Balram Pani said a girls’ college would be opened in Fatehpur Beri soon. “The CM’s request to the Union education minister is the government’s decision and DU has no role in this,” he clarified.