E-Paper
DU switches to online admission process, less than 5% applications process on day 1
Only 920 students managed to complete formalities on the first day of admissions under the first cut-off list at Delhi University (DU) colleges on Monday.
Only 920 students managed to complete formalities on the first day of admissions under the first cut-off list at Delhi University (DU) colleges on Monday. To ensure restrictions imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), the university is conducting the entire process online this year.
Last year, on the first day of admissions, 2,026 students were able to finish the process.
According to the data provided by the university, as many as 19,086 students had applied for 70,000 undergraduate seats across 60 colleges by 8pm on Monday. Of them, 1,628 applications were approved by the admission committees and only 920 of them completed the admission process after paying the fees.
Officials at several colleges said slow internet connectivity and elaborate online screening process – which involves checking the mark sheets and other documents, including caste certificates – took a lot of time.
In the new process, the application of students goes through the at least three levels of verification. The course in-charge of all colleges verify the minimum qualification, eligibility, cut-off requirement, and certificates uploaded by the candidates. Once it is done, the convener or admission committee of the colleges check the application and after that, the college principal approves the admission. The applicants will then have to submit the fee to complete the process.
DU dean of admissions Shobha Bagai said, “Some colleges expressed concerns and we have advised them to improve internet connectivity in colleges because a number of people from the same network connect to the same portal, which slows it down. So we have asked them to arrange for additional routers. Since not all colleges faced this issue, it shows that this wasn’t a central server issue but happened at the local server level. Besides, this is the first time colleges are conducting admissions online and it was the first day.”
Officials at Lady Shri Ram (LSR) College, which has announced a 100% cut-off for three admissions to Political Science, Psychology and Economics this year, refused to share the data of applications received on the first day. College principal Suman Sharma said, “It will be difficult to confirm the exact number of admissions till the process under the first cut-off gets over. We have received maximum admissions in BSc in Mathematics and Political Science (Hons) on the first day,” she said. Around 300 students had completed the admission process in the college on the first day last year.
The admission process under the first cut-off will be concluded by 5pm on Wednesday. The second cut-off will be released before October 19.
Hindu College approved nearly 300 applications by Monday night and more than 100 among them had paid the fee. Of them, 15 had applied in BA (Honours) in Political Science – which saw the highest cut-off in the college this year at 99.5%. “Till 6.30pm, we had received 131 applicants for Political Science, of which 52 had to be rejected. Of these 131 students, at least 36 students had submitted 100% as their best of four aggregate,” said a college official, requesting anonymity. The course has 49 seats, according to data shared by university officials.
Even for BSc (Hons) in Physics in Hindu College, 28 of the 67 applicants submitted their best of four aggregate as 100%. BSc (Honours) in Physics, the cut-off for which is set at 99.33%, has 79 seats this year. “The remaining applications are still being screened. The number of approved applications may increase by tonight,” said the official.
Miranda House received 737 applications, of which the maximum number (87) were for BA (Honours) in Political Science – which had a cut-off of 99%. College acting principal Bijayalaxmi Nanda said on Monday night that administrative officials were still processing the data and could not provide the total number of admissions. The college had enrolled 280 students on the first day last year. “Our team is making sure that the data is checked meticulously and that is taking time. Slow internet and other accessibility issues are causing a delay in processing,” she said.
Ramjas College approved 150 applications by 7pm on Monday. College principal Manoj Khanna said that 20 of them had completed the admission process. “We got maximum applications in Political Science (Hons) and BSc in Statistics on the first day. We faced few issues in verifying the CBSE mark sheets online due to which there was a delay in clearing some applications. The slow internet connectivity on the university campus also slowed down the process. We will process and approve the remaining applications by Tuesday afternoon,” he said.
Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) had received 200 applications in B Com (Hons) and 130 in BA (Hons) in Economics by Monday evening. College principal Simrit Kaur said they had processed 60% of these applications. “We will approve the admissions and process the remaining applications by Tuesday afternoon,” she said, adding that the overall process went smooth and the college witnessed only marginal glitches.
At Sri Venkateswara College on South Campus, nodal officer Lata N said they had approved 157 applications by the evening. “Of which 50 have paid the fees as well. Around 110 applications have been approved by the teacher-in-charges and are pending with our admissions committee. Upon clearance, they will be sent to the principal for approval,” Lata said, adding that maximum admissions on the first day have been in BA (Honours) in Political Science.
