DU runs out of paper to print degrees, student moves HC
New Delhi: A psychology student who graduated from Delhi University in 2017 approached Delhi High Court on July 6, citing that the university was yet to issue him his postgraduate degree due to which he could not pursue a degree in King’s College, London.
Dhritiman Ray, 25, a freelance mental health practitioner, said, “The institute wanted a degree with conferral date — the date on which the degree is officially awarded. It was not there on the special certificate which was given to me by DU in December 2019 when I approached the officials to get my degree. The degrees are never awarded in the same year and often take around two years to come,” he said.
Ray said response submitted by the varsity in the court left many surprised. As per court documents, DU submitted “that the reason for non-issuance of the degree certificate is lack of proper quality paper and that the contract with the printer has also expired”.
“The contract with the printer engaged by Delhi University came to an end and the same had to be re-tendered. Owing to the lockdown situation, there were very few bids received for the tender which delayed the process. However, the tender for the printer is being finalized shortly,” the university had submitted in the court on July 7.
Dean (Exams) Vinay Gupta said the finalisation of tender is in final phase and the university expects to wrap up the work before July 31 – when the next hearing is scheduled. “Besides, data from the colleges came in late in around December 2019 and we got further delayed due to the lockdown. We expect the matter to get resolved in a couple of weeks,” he said.
“The non-availability of paper and printing facilities cannot be a justifiable cause especially when the careers and educational prospects of students are at stake,” the high court had noted on July 7, asking the varsity to streamline the process of issuing degree certificates and file an affidavit in the matter in four weeks.
Ray, pursued postgraduate degree in Psychology from Zakir Hussain’s college, is now hoping to pursue his higher education from University of Glasgow in Scotland.
“Following the court’s intervention, the university on July 9 gave me a degree certificate wherein my name and other details are handwritten. While Glasgow might make some exceptions owing to the pandemic, I might not be able to use the same in later stages of life. So I have asked the varsity to present me a formal degree with the regular security features as well,” he said.
