In the 2019 Lok Sabha election campaigns, the chief minister of Delhi had promised to open new colleges under Delhi University.
On Friday, he writes to the Centre seeking an amendment in DU Act stating that it is hindering in starting new colleges in the capital.
“Students are facing a tough time getting enrolled in colleges because of high cut-off marks. With cut-offs touching 100%, what will happen to students who secure 70%, 80%, 85%, 90%? The problem is that the number of seats in colleges and universities in Delhi has failed to keep pace with the increase in the number of applicants,” said Kejriwal in a video press briefing.
“Every year, Delhi has around 250,000 students graduating from school, but around 125,000 of them manage to get admission to Delhi-based colleges. What will happen to the remaining 125,000? Currently, Delhi University has 91 affiliated colleges, Indraprastha University has 127, there are nine universities under the state government and then there is Jawaharlal Nehru University. We need to start more colleges and Universities in Delhi. The Delhi government is ready. But there is a legal issue we confronted.”
“There is the Delhi University Act (DU Act) which was enacted by the British. Section 5(2) of the Act says that any new college in Delhi has to be affiliated to the Delhi University. In Delhi University, no new college was affiliated in the last 30 years. In 1998, an amendment was introduced in the Act, and IP University was accommodated for professional courses. But that has reached a saturation point too,” said Kejriwal.
