The
decentralizing of admissions for SC/ST and persons with disability (PWD)
categories — essentially a move towards greater inclusion of these
groups — hasn't worked quite as well as the university administration
had hoped.
The decentralizing of admissions for SC/ST and persons with disability (PWD) categories — essentially a move towards greater inclusion of these groups — hasn't worked quite as well as the university administration had hoped, especially for the second group.
Though forms were meant to be available at all centres and separate guidelines were issued to make the admission process hassle-free, several groups of candidates and their parents found themselves faced unhelpful helpdesk assistants and were directed either to the administrative block in North Campus or the Equal Opportunity Cell (EOC).
"Nobody knows anything," said Manjeet Kaur of Rani Bagh who was told to go to Arts Faculty to collect a form for her visually-impaired son, Hartaj Singh. She had first tried online. "I submitted and got the registration number, too, but when I tried to take a print of the acknowledgement, it said 'zero connection'," Kaur said. Finding out where she could get hard copies of forms also proved difficult. "We were told there was no form for the PWD category at Rajdhani College or any other centre and that we had to come to Arts Faculty to get the form," she said.
The EOC saw a deluge of confused students pouring in for help as, they say, the helpdesks outside were unable to guide them. Five volunteers helped them decide on courses. "We got here at 9am," said Ratul Arora who, like many others, found himself at EOC well past 1pm, yet still unclear about how things worked. He had been sent to the administrative block by a group of student volunteers.
Another batch of volunteers misinformed Manisha Kumar, Rina Vishwakarma and Rakhi, three visually impaired students from Uttam Nagar, that they couldn't apply because they didn't have their marksheets yet. "From tomorrow (Thursday), we will run a parallel counter at EOC. Today, about 30 applicants came to us and their forms were filled, but tomorrow we'll sell the forms as well," Bipin Tiwary, officer on special duty, EOC, said.
The response to decentralization is mixed even from SC/ST candidates. Pooja Kumar, who hoped to study English honours, is pleased because the new process gives her freedom to choose her college. "I hope to make it to Janki Devi," she said. But the change in process -colleges will be issuing cutoff lists for SC/ST candidates, too, from this year-has prompted some others to erroneously suspect that the SC/ST quota is being abolished altogether. "It was easier for us earlier. We'd just be placed in a college. This year we are wondering about cutoffs," a candidate, Honey Kumar, said.
New Delhi: Lovelit Khatana, second year student at Sri Venkateswara College, drove his wheelchair all the way from Basant Gaon to South Campus to collect a DU form for his brother but had to return empty-handed. The counters issuing forms were on the ground floor but to reach there one had to climb a small flight of stairs. from the ground floor alright but getting to them required the candidate to climb a brief flight of stairs.
Khatana, whose both legs have been affected by polio, said there was no ramp. couldn't get to the counter. "There was no ramp there, at least none that I could see," he says.
"It's not very difficult for me to get around and I can solve the problem on my own but there are many disabled students who'll be visiting the centre. Facilities should have been provided for them," he says. Khatana said he wanted to talk to the "main persons" and not just the student volunteers at the helpdesks who were only helping candidates fill their OMR forms.
Finding him in the spot, members of students' unions crowded around him and created a fuss but that was not much help either.
"I couldn't get my form but we still have time," he says gamely. "My brother will come back tomorrow and get the form himself, He wants to study science. He doesn't have this problem," he added.
Source : TOI , 6th June 2013
Though forms were meant to be available at all centres and separate guidelines were issued to make the admission process hassle-free, several groups of candidates and their parents found themselves faced unhelpful helpdesk assistants and were directed either to the administrative block in North Campus or the Equal Opportunity Cell (EOC).
"Nobody knows anything," said Manjeet Kaur of Rani Bagh who was told to go to Arts Faculty to collect a form for her visually-impaired son, Hartaj Singh. She had first tried online. "I submitted and got the registration number, too, but when I tried to take a print of the acknowledgement, it said 'zero connection'," Kaur said. Finding out where she could get hard copies of forms also proved difficult. "We were told there was no form for the PWD category at Rajdhani College or any other centre and that we had to come to Arts Faculty to get the form," she said.
The EOC saw a deluge of confused students pouring in for help as, they say, the helpdesks outside were unable to guide them. Five volunteers helped them decide on courses. "We got here at 9am," said Ratul Arora who, like many others, found himself at EOC well past 1pm, yet still unclear about how things worked. He had been sent to the administrative block by a group of student volunteers.
Another batch of volunteers misinformed Manisha Kumar, Rina Vishwakarma and Rakhi, three visually impaired students from Uttam Nagar, that they couldn't apply because they didn't have their marksheets yet. "From tomorrow (Thursday), we will run a parallel counter at EOC. Today, about 30 applicants came to us and their forms were filled, but tomorrow we'll sell the forms as well," Bipin Tiwary, officer on special duty, EOC, said.
The response to decentralization is mixed even from SC/ST candidates. Pooja Kumar, who hoped to study English honours, is pleased because the new process gives her freedom to choose her college. "I hope to make it to Janki Devi," she said. But the change in process -colleges will be issuing cutoff lists for SC/ST candidates, too, from this year-has prompted some others to erroneously suspect that the SC/ST quota is being abolished altogether. "It was easier for us earlier. We'd just be placed in a college. This year we are wondering about cutoffs," a candidate, Honey Kumar, said.
New Delhi: Lovelit Khatana, second year student at Sri Venkateswara College, drove his wheelchair all the way from Basant Gaon to South Campus to collect a DU form for his brother but had to return empty-handed. The counters issuing forms were on the ground floor but to reach there one had to climb a small flight of stairs. from the ground floor alright but getting to them required the candidate to climb a brief flight of stairs.
Khatana, whose both legs have been affected by polio, said there was no ramp. couldn't get to the counter. "There was no ramp there, at least none that I could see," he says.
"It's not very difficult for me to get around and I can solve the problem on my own but there are many disabled students who'll be visiting the centre. Facilities should have been provided for them," he says. Khatana said he wanted to talk to the "main persons" and not just the student volunteers at the helpdesks who were only helping candidates fill their OMR forms.
Finding him in the spot, members of students' unions crowded around him and created a fuss but that was not much help either.
"I couldn't get my form but we still have time," he says gamely. "My brother will come back tomorrow and get the form himself, He wants to study science. He doesn't have this problem," he added.
Source : TOI , 6th June 2013
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