Barkatullah varsity forms limit options to two genders, four faiths

Madhya Pradesh’s premier Barkatullah University (BU) has run into controversy after the enrolment forms of the institute have not provided the option of ‘third gender’ for prospective students. Similarly, Buddhist and Jain aspirants cannot select their religion on the form as both options are missing from the form — the only choices provided are Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Christian.

Madhya Pradesh’s premier Barkatullah University (BU) has run into controversy after the enrolment forms of the institute have not provided the option of ‘third gender’ for prospective students. Similarly, Buddhist and Jain aspirants cannot select their religion on the form as both options are missing from the form — the only choices provided are Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Christian.

BU registrar HS Tripathi said the issue was not major and would be rectified soon. (HT file photo)

Some candidates are circumventing the issue by providing inaccurate or incorrect information.

“I opened the form to fill it but when I didn’t find an option called ‘other religion’, I was stuck. Later, I talked with the BU administration and they asked me to choose any option among the four religions mentioned and said it won’t be a problem in future. I was left with no other option than giving wrong information about my religion,” a student whose family migrated from Pakistan said.

Students from the third gender category have especially found the form problematic.

“Two years ago, the state government included the option of ‘third gender’ in the forms for admission to different colleges. But most students from the third gender category take a private admission in the university due to social issues. However, BU didn’t give us an option like that,” an aspiring student, who didn’t wish to be named, said.

Meanwhile, BU registrar HS Tripathi said the issue was not major and that it would be rectified soon. “The software has not been updated for a long time. I came to know about the problem only recently. I have asked the information technology department to rectify the problem because everybody has the right to disclose their religion and gender in the form,” he said.