Can't DU have more colleges?

Urvashi Gulia / Jul 4, 2004, 23:22 IST

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NEW DELHI: For every seat at Delhi University, there are three applications. And with cut-offs going sky high, students from Delhi are the ones who ended up suffering the most.

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">NEW DELHI: For every seat at Delhi University, there are three applications. The seat, obviously, goes to just one student while the other two have to fend for themselves. And with cut-offs going sky high this year, students from Delhi were the ones who ended up suffering the most. In such a scenario, Times City examines why DU cannot have more colleges. In real terms, over 1.25 lakh students apply to DU and only about 43,000 students finally make it to the regular courses. This year, the speed with which seats were filled after the first cut-off list was announced, left many stumped. College authorities too acknowledged that admissions had never taken place at such a fast pace. This even when the first cut-off list seemed too high to be real (the highest cut-off stood at over 97% at Hindu College for B Com (H)) and the second list only saw a marginal drop. Colleges like SRCC closed admissions with the first list itself. The number of seats at DU or rather the lack of them, has been a cause of much debate (amongst academics) and worry (for parents and students). Those who don''t exactly fall in the ''good'' percentage category are left with no optionsâ€” whatever opportunity they get, they grab with both hands. Despite all this, the last college to become part of DU was Maharaja Agrasen Collegeâ€” a Delhi government-funded collegeâ€” that too over a decade ago. Since then, no funded college has been established by the government under DU. Why? "The Delhi government realised that running colleges is an expensive proposition and takes a lot of effort as well," said a professor at Delhi University. What the government has done is to establish the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU), popularly known as the IP University. On the face of it, IP University is supposed to be an alternative for those who cannot make it to DU. The reality, however, is quite different. IP University has self-financing colleges and conducts only professional courses like BBA, BCA, B Tech, M Tech, MBA, LLB, and Architecture among others. Why has the Delhi Government not made an effort to set up more colleges under DU to counter the seat crunch? A senior Delhi administration officer, on condition of anonymity, said: "DU has reached a saturation point. The University says that it can''t have more colleges under it. Moreover, we created IP University precisely to deal with this problem. Students must opt for professional courses. What use is a plain BA or B Sc?" When questioned about the high fee structure at IP University as compared to DU, he added: "The fee structure at DU is unrealistic. Even an ice-cream costs more than a DU college''s monthly tuition fee." Has DU really reached its saturation point? According to Dean of Students'' Welfare Hema Raghavan, it has. "DU has a very complex structure. The university has 61 regular colleges, 19 professional colleges and 82 postgraduate departments. Where is the question of adding more? Any further additions and the University will become unmanageable," she said. If not more colleges, why not have more seats at DU? DU officials say that even that may not be a feasible prospect. Colleges take in at least 10% more students than their optimum intake. Any more and the infrastructure will just not be able to take the load.</div> </div>

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