Delhi CM asks education minister to amend DU Act to add new colleges

NEW DELHI: The chief minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal wrote to the Union education minister to change the Delhi University Act 1922 to make way for new colleges and universities in Delhi.

In a letter addressed to Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, Kejriwal has requested an amendment to section 5(2) of the act so that more affiliating universities can be created for students.

“In the past 30 years, no new colleges have been opened in the capital due to the Delhi University Act. The act requires all new colleges to be affiliated with DU but it has reached the maximum capacity,” Kejriwal said in a live conference on Friday.

The chief minister highlighted that lakhs of students who clear Class 12 in Delhi are being left behind in the race for admissions every year. “Every year, almost 2.50 lakh students who clear Class 12 in Delhi alone and there are many who come from different parts of the country,” said Kejriwal.

“We need to increase the number of colleges and universities to give equal opportunities of higher education to all the students,” he added.

We need many more colleges and universities in Delhi Press Conference | LIVE https://t.co/CHWBZiD9XC

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 16, 2020

Kejriwal’s decision has come in response to the Delhi University’s colleges which make it to the headlines every year because of soaring figures.

With Lady Shri Ram College for Women setting 100 percent cutoffs for three programmes, all previous records of DU admissions have been broken. This year, a total of 30 courses across all colleges have cutoffs of 99 percent or higher.

As many as 91 colleges and institutions are affiliated to Delhi University. Apart from DU, 127 educational institutions are affiliated to IP University, the minister said in the live conference.

Also read:

• DU admission for first round closes; fee payment till Oct 16
  
• Ambedkar University Delhi announces first cut-off for undergraduate admission

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