Shot in the arm for OBC girls

New Delhi: Delhi University's Admission Committee has recommended colleges to give two percent relaxation in cut-off to women students from the OBC section to address their disproportionate representation with respect to men in their community.

In its first meeting for the upcoming admission season on Monday, the committee members sought to address the disparity between men and women of Other Backward Classes (OBC) section, where men edge out women by "four to three".

"Generally we have observed from the last years' trends that among OBC candidates the number of women is much less than men... We think we need to address this issue. We have recommended colleges to give two percent rebate in the cut off to such women," Admission Committee member Maharaj K Pandit told reporters.

The relaxation is set at two percent maximum and those colleges which are already giving a relaxation of one percent will be allowed to increase it by another one per cent only.

About quota seats for Scheduled Tribe (ST) students, Pandit said the university was not able to fill all reserved seats last season and fell short by around three percent of the seven percent reserved, while Scheduled Caste students not only overshot their quota but also had almost equal representation of men and women from the section. To address shortfall in Scheduled Tribe students, the university will be embarking on an outreach programme to attract more students from northeast states "since they form majority of Scheduled Tribe students in campus".

The committee has decided to create a special admission cell for students from northeast states and also provisioned for a nodal officer for the northeast in each college. Observers will be sent to different colleges to ensure adherence to admission policies as mandated by constitutional bodies including those with respect to reservation of weaker sections and persons with disabilities.

To anchor the ever rising cut-offs, the committee has also decided to call a meeting of principals of all colleges with a view to figure out a way to "keep them (cut offs) realistic". So that cut-offs can be fairly calculated and no one board's students are favoured over other, the university will seek information from the education boards about whether they are following a moderation policy or are spiking marks, Pandit said. A recurrent issue with helpline, which many complained last year to be constantly busy or incommunicable, will be resolved by "increasing the number of volunteers". The registration for admission in 2018-19 session are likely to start by April first week, Pandit said.