Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written a letter to the Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal citing that the state needs more colleges and universities. The objective of this letter was to ask for an amendment in the Delhi University Act, which will help the government in opening colleges.
According to the Delhi University Act Section 5 (2), which was constituted by the British, any college established in Delhi can only be opened under the affiliation of Delhi University. The chief minister spoke about this issue while addressing the media in a press conference.
The chief minister talked about the increase in cut-off marks and the number of students applying for DU is multiplying every year while the number of seats is limited. This rise in numbers makes it difficult for students to seek admission in universities and colleges and also students who have good percentile fail to get seats in their desired colleges.
In the press conference, Kejriwal said, “The Delhi University Act made during the British era states that a new college needs to be affiliated with Delhi University. I’ve written to the Minister of Education seeking to amend the Act so that new colleges and universities can be opened in Delhi.”
Arvind Kejriwal also mentioned about the establishment of new educational institutes in Delhi. He also said that if the Central government is willing to amend the DU Act, the Delhi government will provide the necessary finances for the establishment of new colleges or universities.
Kejriwal also added, “Why are the admission cut-offs so high in Delhi? It is only because there is a huge lack of colleges and universities in the capital, while the number of students is increasing. We need many more colleges and universities here.”
Also Read: World Student’s Day 2020: Remembering the immortal - Dr APJ Abdul Kalam on his birth anniversary
The Chief Minister further added, “Around 2.5 lakh students from Delhi itself clear Class 12 board exams every year, of whom only 1.25 lakh get admission in the colleges affiliated to the University of Delhi.”
Delhi University has recently released the first cut-off list for various colleges for the academic session 2020-2021. This year, the admission process is taking place online due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.