DU alleges St. Stephen's College of exceeding sanctioned seats for Christian candidates

NEW DELHI: Delhi University on Monday accused St. Stephen's College of exceeding the sanctioned quota for Christian candidates in its revised seat allocation list, and leaving some seats in a few BA courses vacant despite candidates meeting the required criteria based on CUET scores. In the first step of verification of the list sent by St. Stephen's College, DU identified certain "crucial and alarming aspects" owing to which it could not proceed with the allocations, the varsity said in a public notice regarding announcement of allocation for Christian candidates in Christian minority colleges.

In the notice, DU further alleged that in some sought-after programmes such as B.Sc (H) Chemistry and B.Sc (H) Physics, seats have been left vacant despite having enough CUET-qualified candidates for both the programmes. There was no immediate reaction from St. Stephen's College Principal John Varghese on the allegations. Varghese, however, in a notice issued on the college website on August 30, claimed DU did not open its admission portal -- Common Seat Allotment System (CSAS) -- for Christian minority students, hindering them from joining the classes which began on August 29. He warned if the university does not open the portal by 5 pm on August 31, the college would seek appropriate legal remedy to ensure that the future of these students is not further "jeopardised".

The latest issue adds to the ongoing dispute between Delhi University and St. Stephen's College over the latter's revised admission policies and seat allocation criteria. According to the notice by DU, the college had sent the programme-wise list of candidates to the university on August 28, shortlisted for admissions. "While doing the first step of validation of the list sent by the St. Stephen's College, the university identified certain crucial and alarming aspects owing to which the list could not proceed for the allocations. Clarification was sought from the college immediately," the notice read.

Revised list issues

The principal of St. Stephen's College agreed to the identified mismatches, it added. The DU further said that in the initial list sent by the college, no specific details of B.A. programme combinations were provided, owing to which it could not allocate the seats to candidates. The college revised the list and it was received by DU on August 31, the notice said. "In the revised list as well, it has been found that in certain B.A. programme combinations, no seat has been allocated, while in some more than sanctioned seats were allocated to Christian candidates," the notice said.

"Similarly, in some sought-after programmes like B.Sc.(H) Chemistry and B.Sc.(H) Physics, seats have been left vacant despite having CUET qualified candidates in both the programmes," it added. The DU said it is doing further validations on the latest lists sent by the college. However, in the college's notice dated August 30, the principal stated, "Despite providing the list of selected candidates to the university on the August 24, after a three-day silence, the university responded on the August 27 afternoon, requesting further details pertaining to the categories, CUET and interview marks of all Christian minority candidates."

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Allocation announcement

The college provided all the required details at 12.20 am on August 28 with a request that the names of the selected candidates be timely uploaded on the CSAS portal for them to pay their fees and further join the regular classes from August 29, Varghese said. "There was neither an acknowledgement from the university for the email with the updated information, nor was there any response from the university to the college's reminders or requests for a status update," he alleged in the notice. "This notice is an outcome of the silence from the university on a matter affecting the lives of several hundred students and to inform or update the candidates and parents on the matter.

Two days of classes have already been lost by these selected students," he added. DU's public notice issued on Monday also announced the allocation of Christian candidates who were shortlisted by Jesus and Mary College, another minority institute. The candidates will have time until September 4, till 4.59 pm to accept the allocations. After this, the colleges would verify and approve the online applications till September 5, 4.59 pm. The last date for submitting the online fees is September 6, till 4.59 pm.