90% reservation quota to Delhi students in 12 colleges in Delhi

Wooing youngsters ahead of the assembly polls, Delhi Government has decided to recommed to the Centre to provide 90 per cent reservation to students from the city for admission in twelve colleges funded by it.

Delhi Higher Education Minister A K Walia said the government provides 100 per cent funding to the 12 collges where it plans to reserve 90 per cent seats for students from Delhi. The BJP has been demanding reservation of seats for students from Delhi in the city colleges.

Walia said government has also decided to reserve 50 per cent seats in collges which are being given 50 per cent grant for their under capital head and 5 per cent assistance as "recurring grant".

"We will send these recommendations to the University of Delhi and to the Ministry of Home Affairs for approval," he said. Being a Union Territory, Delhi Government seeks permission of Union Home Ministry for various issues. He said students who have passed the 12th standard from schools located in Delhi will be eligible for availing the reservation.

"It is estimated that nearly 17,000 students of Delhi are studying in these colleges which are being given 100 per cent finacial assistance by Delhi Government," Walia said. He said if the recommendations are accepted, then around 19,000 seats will be available to students from Delhi in these colleges.

"They will get an opportunity to study in Delhi itself rather than seeking admission outside Delhi where they have to bear financial burden as well as face a number of other difficulties," Walia said.

The Delhi BJP has been demanding reservation of students The Delhi BJP has been demanding reservation of students in the city colleges for students from the capital. Reacting to government's decision, Delhi BJP chief Vijay Goel said the BJP has "scored a major moral victory" on the issue of providing reservation in colleges to students passing from Delhi schools.

"We have been raising this demand for the last many years and our pressure has compelled the Delhi government to initiate this move," he said.

"This is a major victory for the BJP's long standing movement to provide reservation in Delhi colleges for students passing out of Delhi schools," he said. Walia said it has been decided that girls should be given additional weightage of 5 per cent of the marks obtained by them in the class 12 qualifying examination.

"For example if there are two students which have obtained 60 per cent marks, and both of them belong to Delhi and one of the student is a female student, while preparing merit list her total marks will be presumed to be 60 per cent plus 5 per cent of 60 per cent that is 63 per cent," said Walia.

"This provision would encourage female students to pursue higher education and would be a step forward towards correcting the gender balance in the higher education," he said.

The colleges which are being provided 100 per cent grant by Delhi Government include Acharya Narendera Dev College, Aditi Mahavidyalaya Bhaskaracharya college of Applied Sciences, Bhim Rao Ambedkar college, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya college, Bhagini Nivedita College, Najafgarh and Indira Gandhi Institute of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, Vikaspuri. The others are Keshav Mahavidyalaya, Pitampura, Maharaja Agarasen college, Maharshi Valmiki college of Education, Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies and Shaheed Rajguru college of Applied Sciences for Women.

The colleges where 50 per cent seats are sought to be reserved are Bharti college, Gargi college, Kalindi college, Maitreyi college, Rajdhani college, Shivaji college, Satyawati college, Vivekanand college, Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Kamla Nehru College, Laxmi Bai college, Moti Lal Nehru college, Shyama Prasad Mukharji college, Aurobindo college, Swami Sradhanand college, Shaheed Bhagat Singh college.

PTI