Delhi University admissions set to begin from June 20

The admission process for various undergraduate, postgraduate, MPhil, and PhD courses in Delhi University is set to begin on June 20, university officials said on

The admission process for various undergraduate, postgraduate, MPhil, and PhD courses in Delhi University is set to begin on June 20, university officials said on Wednesday. Applicants will get at least a two-week window till July 4 to submit their registration forms on the website.

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The decision was taken at the three-hour-long standing committee meeting of the academic council —the varsity’s highest academic body. Officials at DU’s Computer Centre (DUCC), the varsity’s central IT institution, said that barring technical and administrative glitches, the registration process is likely to start on June 20.

Arun Kumar Attree, a member of the standing committee, said, “The registration portal is to be opened from June 20 to July 4 for all courses. The second window will be opened for updating marks after the declaration of results by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). The first cutoff, which will also be dependent on that, is likely to come out between the second and third week of August.”

Last year, the online registration process was carried out between May 30 and June 22 and the first cut-off was announced on June 28. This year, the academic calendar has been delayed by nearly two months.

Officials said the dates of the first cut-off would depend on the pending Class 12 CBSE examination, which is slated to be conducted between July 1 and 15. “Due to the ongoing increase in Covid-19 cases in some areas, there is a possibility that the CBSE may not be able to conduct Class 12 exams and instead consider pre-board results from schools. We have to look at that possibility as well,” Attree said.

The academic council member had also proposed the removal of admission cancellation fee of ₹1,000 for marginalised students, keeping the current economic crisis in mind. However, the committee did not accept his recommendation.

“The exorbitant cancellation fee will lead to affluent candidates getting a college or course of their choice and further discouraging marginalised students from having multiple options. Disadvantaged students should be allowed to cancel their admission for free between three cut-offs at least,” Attree said, adding that he recorded his dissent.

The university has also decided not to conduct trials for admissions under Sports or Extra-Curricular Activities (ECA) category this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Under these admissions, applicants excelling in sports or ECA categories listed by the varsity would get a chance to secure a seat through trials and merit certificates. In DU colleges, 5% supernumerary seats are reserved under these two categories collectively in each course.

This year, however, the university has decided to grant admissions to sports candidates across 27 disciplines on the basis of their certificates entirely. For ECA, the university will only take admissions on the basis of National Cadet Corps (NCC) and National Service Scheme (NSS) certificates instead of the 14 activities listed every year. In May, Hindustan Times had reported that the varsity was considering such measures in the wake of the health crisis arising out of Covid-19.

Former sports council chairperson, CS Dubey, endorsed the move as it would be “better” under the given circumstances. He, however, cautioned against fraudulent certificates. “Earlier, sports trials were conducted by the college and 75% weightage was given to certificates and 25% to trials. To tackle the problem of fake certificates, the weightage to trials was later on increased 40%,” he said.

Currently, under the sports quota, candidates have to appear for trials in their preferred discipline. While the trials carry 60%, the other 40% are allotted based on merit certificates.

“This is the first time since then [2011] that sports trials will not be conducted. This is, however, better, considering social distancing norms and whether applicants will be able to travel to the university or not. However, care should be taken to deal with fraudulent certificates,” Dubey, who has served as the sports council chairperson for nearly a decade, said.

On Wednesday, the committee also agreed that “any discrepancy in the spelling of a name or missing surname in the certificates of SC/ST/OBC/EWS/PwD shall be verified from their other certificates rather than rejecting their admission”.