Delhi University Claims St. Stephen's Exceeded Christian Quota Seats

Delhi University (DU) has accused St. Stephen's College of exceeding the sanctioned quota for Christian candidates in its revised seat allocation list. The university also noted that some seats in BA courses were left vacant despite candidates meeting the required CUET scores.

Dispute Over Seat Allocation

In a public notice, DU highlighted that during the first step of verifying the list sent by St. Stephen's College, several crucial issues were identified. These issues prevented DU from proceeding with the allocations for Christian candidates in minority colleges.

The notice also pointed out that in popular programmes like B.Sc H Chemistry and B.Sc H Physics, seats remained vacant even though there were enough CUET-qualified candidates. This raised concerns about the college's adherence to admission policies.

College Principal's Response

St. Stephen's College Principal John Varghese did not immediately respond to the allegations. However, on August 30, he issued a notice on the college website claiming that DU had not opened its admission portal for Christian minority students. This, according to Varghese, hindered students from joining classes that began on August 29.

Varghese warned that if the university did not open the portal by 5 pm on August 31, the college would seek legal remedies to protect the students' futures. This issue adds to the ongoing dispute between DU and St. Stephen's College over revised admission policies and seat allocation criteria.

Validation and Clarifications

According to DU's notice, St. Stephen's College sent a programme-wise list of shortlisted candidates to the university on August 28. During the initial validation of this list, DU found several alarming aspects that required immediate clarification from the college.

The principal of St. Stephen's College acknowledged these mismatches. DU further stated that the initial list lacked specific details of BA programme combinations, preventing seat allocation for candidates.

Revised List Issues

The revised list was received by DU on August 31. However, it was found that in certain BA programme combinations, no seats were allocated while in others, more than the sanctioned seats were given to Christian candidates.

Similarly, in sought-after programmes like B.Sc H Chemistry and B.Sc H Physics, seats remained vacant despite having qualified candidates. DU is conducting further validations on these lists.

College's Notice and University Response

In a notice dated August 30, Principal Varghese stated that despite providing a list of selected candidates to DU on August 24, there was no response until August 27. The university requested further details about categories, CUET scores, and interview marks for all Christian minority candidates.

The college provided these details at 12:20 am on August 28 and requested timely uploading of selected candidates' names on the CSAS portal so they could pay fees and join classes from August 29. Varghese alleged there was no acknowledgment or response from DU regarding this updated information or subsequent reminders.

This notice aimed to inform candidates and parents about the situation affecting several hundred students' lives. Varghese added that two days of classes had already been lost by these selected students.

DU's public notice also announced the allocation of Christian candidates shortlisted by Jesus and Mary College, another minority institute. Candidates have until September 4 at 4:59 pm to accept their allocations. Colleges will verify and approve online applications until September 5 at 4:59 pm, with the last date for submitting online fees being September 6 at 4:59 pm.

The ongoing dispute between Delhi University and St. Stephen's College continues to affect students' admissions and class schedules. Both institutions need to resolve these issues promptly to ensure students can proceed with their education without further disruptions.