This week, on June 29, Delhi Assembly has passed a resolution that 85 per cent seats be reserved for students from the capital in colleges funded by the state government, including Delhi University. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, passing the resolution, ensures that each necessary measure will be taken to exercise this resolution fully.
Sisodia said on Thursday,“In the last letter I wrote to HRD minister Prakash Javadekar on December 13, 2016, I requested him to give reservation to students from Delhi in DU admissions,” stating that twice he has written to the Centre, requesting that Delhi students must have a upper hand at admissions in colleges in the capital.
Over the past few years, several BJP and Congress leaders have been raising their voices for the issue as well.
Sisodia said to the Assembly,“This is a national capital, where people come from every corner of the country. This resolution is for everyone. This does not mean we are indulging in regionalism.”
He also mentioned that the number of students passing Class XII was increasing in Delhi every year, but the number of seats in Delhi University has been the same. “…Soon, we will set up four more campuses of Ambedkar University in the city,” he said.
The assembly also resolved to put up the request to the Centre to amend the DU Act (1922), according to which no other university in Delhi is legally authorized to give affiliation to any college. If the amendment is passed, universities other than DU will also be able to give affiliation to other colleges.
AAP MLA Jarnail Singh graced the assembly saying that about 25% of the state budget goes into the expenditure of 28 government-funded colleges. AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj pooled in the suggestion that a delegation of all legislators, headed by BJP MLA Jagdish Pradhan, should hold a meeting with the HRD Minister and request him to provide reservation.
The opposition too, gave in their support for the resolution, with BJP MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa stating they had made an effort in giving priority to Delhi students in DU admissions. The assembly pledged to raise the issue in front of the Centre, the Lieutenant Governor and the university administration. Both the resolutions, moved by Sisodia, were passed by voice vote.