As the admission process of the Delhi University nears its last date, aspirants have complained that they are having trouble acquiring (Economically Weaker Section) EWS and (Other Backward Caste) OBC certificates amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. They also alleged that the DU helpline — be it the phone numbers or the mail ids — are either unresponsive or are of no help even when they reply.
Altaf Jamil (name changed), who is a resident of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh and wants to pursue his graduation (UG) from DU, said that he could not get his EWS certificate because the Sub-Divisional Magistrate's office is not issuing any documentation due to a high number of COVID cases in the area. "They have straight out told me that they can't let me in because there are too many cases around and they can only issue certificates after July 15. That would be of no use to me as the admission process ends on July 4," he added. "I have an income certificate and I called the helpline and explained my situation. But they said they cannot accept anything but EWS certificates," he said.
Similar is the situation for Arpit Sharma (name changed). A resident of Shahdara, near Old Delhi, Arpit has completed his BSc from IGNOU and wants to apply for LLB at DU. "I have been trying to get the certificated application submitted for the past couple of weeks but the office has denied my request every time. They are not even letting us meet any of the higher officials," said Arpit.
Arpit had sent emails to the helpline and the replies seem to have been copied and pasted from the bulletin. "When I asked them what I should do if the SDM office is not giving out certificates they said that I should submit the acknowledgement letter as per the instructions on the bulletin. But if I cannot submit the application how am I supposed to get an acknowledgement letter for that?" asked a bewildered Arpit.
Same is the case with OBC candidates, said Amisha Nanda, who is studying LLM in DU and is spearheading an initiative to help aspirants with the admission process. "We are getting hundreds of emails and messages which say that there are huge lines in front of the offices every day or the offices not working except for essential duties. How are the students supposed to get their documents together amidst this crisis?" she asked.
"It is mentioned that as far as the reservation certificates are concerned one can, for the time being, upload the old one or the application slip of the new one. However, there's no provision about those who are applying for the form for the first time and can't even upload the application slip since they belong to the EWS category for which one can't even apply online. The particular government offices that are concerned with this work are as always showing up an attitude of red-tapism and ending the topic by saying that their offices are not working due to COVID," she added.
