The Delhi government is ready to start new colleges and universities if the legal provisions are eased, says chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. In a video press briefing, he said students are facing a tough time getting enrolled in colleges because of high cut-off marks.
“With cut-offs touching 100 per cent, what will happen to students who secure 70 per cent, 80 per cent, 85 per cent and 90,” Kejriwal questioned. “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.” The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in its 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign had promised that it would start new colleges and universities and offer reservation to students who are residents. Every year, Kejriwal said the capital has about 250,000 students graduating school, of which about 125,000 manage to get admission into Delhi-based colleges. “Currently, DU 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. The government is ready. But there is a legal issue we confronted.”
Highlighting Section 5(2) of the DU Act, the chief minister said that any new college in the capital has to be affiliated to the DU. Kejriwal observed that no new college has been started in the city in 30 years. “In 1998, an amendment was introduced in the Act and IP University was accomodated for professional courses. But that has reached a saturation point too,” he said. Furthermore, the chief minister said they have written to the Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal and urged him to remove Section 5(2) of the DU Act so that new colleges can be started. He said it will benefit the students.
