DU colleges denying admission to OBC/EWS candidates, alleges DUSU; varsity denies

The Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) has alleged serious discrepancies in the ongoing admission process of the Delhi University (DU).

The students' union alleged on Saturday that some colleges affiliated to DU are denying admission to the students of OBC/EWS quotas who have failed to furnish the latest documents supporting their quotas.

"Despite issuing the guidelines which state that applicants availing OBC/EWS quota can give an undertaking supporting their old certificates of OBC/EWS, the colleges have turned down many applicants," alleged Shivangi Kharwal, joint secretary of DUSU.

"Some students could not produce their latest documents supporting their quota due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the colleges have been mandated to accept their certificates with an undertaking which grants the applicants 15 days' time to furnish the latest documents. Besides, the nodal officers appointed to look after admissions were unresponsive when the applicants tried to contact them," she added.

When asked about their source of information, the DUSU office bearers claimed that students facing such issues had approached them through the helpline number issued by the students' body.

The university has appointed a total of 67 nodal officers, one from each college, to look after the admission process.

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the ruling party of DUSU, and the officials of the students' union jointly held a protest on Saturday against the university's administration for the alleged discrepancies.

However, the university administration said that a false propaganda is being carried to politicise the issue.

"We are for the welfare of the students and have nothing against the applicants of OBC and EWS categories. This is just an attempt to malign the university's image only to score a few political points. This is a false narrative propagated by people with political ambitions," Shobha Bagai, dean of admissions, said.

"It's DU's policy that both OBC and EWS certificates should not be older than March 31, 2020. We have conveyed this in June only. However, some students could not produce these documents till the time of admission. We have also allowed them to give an undertaking and take 15 days' time to furnish the latest ones," she clarified.

"I strongly condemn the misleading campaign against DU," Bagai added.

On the allegation of nodal officers being unresponsive to the applicants, she said that the applicants must understand that the admission help desk is not a call centre.

"Unlike previous years, the admissions are happening along with the classes. The nodal officers are university teachers. They are indulging in the admission process along side taking classes. They might have missed a few calls. They should understand that we are not running a call centre," Bagai said..