'Cards' stacked against Delhi university students

Several of them claim they have not been issued admit cards of annual exams for agitating against the administration; varsity says it's a matter of insufficient attendance

It seems that prolonged protests against the semester system have backfired on many Delhi University students. A number of them from various colleges gathered outside the vice-chancellor's office recently to make a plea to be allowed to sit in the ongoing final examinations. The gathering comprised students from Miranda House, Dayal Singh College, Motilal Nehru College, Gargi College and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee (SPM) College.


Spot of bother: The Arts faculty building in DU's north campus. file pic

Anxious students claim they have been short on attendance, but have had genuine problems and should be allowed to write the exams. However, until 2010 the university has seen no such protests for admit cards not being issued to a number of students, except for a few rare cases.

"We agitated for hours outside the V-C office to demand our rightful admit cards as most of us have had genuine problems. I had prolonged jaundice the entire year and could attend only a few classes. I have produced my medical certificate for the same, but they are still not allowing me to sit in the examinations. They say I don't meet the 66.6 per cent minimum criteria," said Atul Pandey, IInd year student of Dayal Singh College.

The students' protests seem to have gone in vain as the annual examinations for most disciplines have already begun. Many students attribute the attendance issue to the recent semester row. "We lost a number of classes due to the anti-semester protests as we supported the teachers. I don't know if I was ever marked for them," said Anjana Basaou, student from Miranda House.

On the other hand, teachers refute the students' claims. "We feel bad about every child who has a problem. We have worked on the attendance issue of lagging students for six days with a committee of 30-35 teachers and heads of departments. We brought down the minimum attendance requisite from 66.6 to 40 per cent. If there are students who cannot even meet that target, we can't help them," said Dr Adarsh Gulati, professor at Miranda House.

Gates to open
With no application forms, the admission process in Delhi University (DU) this year will begin June 15 with the announcement of the first cut-off list. "This year there will be no application forms which students earlier used to submit to colleges of their choice, nor any common admission form. The colleges will straightaway declare the first cut off list and the aspirants can take admission thereafter," AN official said. "The admission committee decided last evening that the date for the first cut-off list will be June 15. Although the vice chancellor is yet to give his nod, it's almost certain that this is final," he added. After the announcement of the first cut off list, students will get four days to take admission, between June 16 and 20. The second cut off list will be declared June 21 and admissions will be open from June 22-25. mThe third list will be out June 27 and admissions from June 28-July. The fourth list will be out July 2 and admissions will be from July 4-7 and the fifth list will be out on July 8 and admissions will be from July 9-13. "The admission policy - of no application forms and five cut-off lists - was approved by the vice chancellor," the official added.

Count out
Delhi University, founded in 1922, has 14 faculties, 86 academic departments and 79 colleges. Its student population is about 2,20,000.