Seven members of the Academic Council (AC) and Executive Council (EC) of Delhi University (DU), including a member of the Finance Committee, have written a letter to Vice-Chancellor (VC), Yogesh Singh, expressing their concerns about the irregularities in PhD admissions in the Department of Economics at the Delhi School of Economics (DSE). The letter highlights the discrimination against students from reserved categories during the admission process.
According to the letter, the cut-off marks for PhD admission have been raised to 55 per cent for unreserved candidates and 50 per cent for scheduled caste (SC) and scheduled tribe (ST) candidates, against DU's criteria of 50 per cent for unreserved candidates and 45 per cent for reserved categories. Furthermore, when results were declared, 14 candidates were selected from the unreserved category, while one seat each from the scheduled caste and scheduled tribe categories was not filled conspicuously.
The letter states. "The question is whether the seats for the reserved categories are converted to UR seats. Or SC/ST seats are kept vacant consciously. Unfortunately, even after 100 years of the university’s history and more than 75 years of the country’s independence, the attitudes towards the weaker sections of society have not changed, especially in eminent institutions like DSE. If the students are not allowed higher education in these premier institutions, how can we pave the way for the deprived section to move on the higher development ladder?"
The faculty members demand that the VC intervene in the admission process and ensure justice for students from backward classes. "Such pernicious acts from the widely acclaimed schools of learning require strong action from your side so that culprits are suitably exposed and punished and justice is delivered to the deprived students," they write.
The signatories also call for strong action against those responsible for discriminating against reserved category students.
The signatories include:
- Dr JLGupta (Member of Finance Committee)
- Dr Seema Dass – EC Member
- Sh Rajpal Singh Pawar – EC Member
- Dr Alok Pandey – AC member
- Dr CM Negi – AC Member
- Dr Sunil Kumar – AC Member
- Dr Mamta Chaudhary- AC Member
