Admissions go online, DU netas feel the change

Admission time at Delhi University is also the peak time for student groups to interact with the new students and woo them into campus politics – if not as members in their organisations, then at least as voters.

 

This year targeting these new students has been tougher.  The online admission system implemented this time meant that applicants didn’t have to visit the campus till late in the admission process. Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) office bearers could interact with them only after the cut-offs were announced.

But later the opportunities presented themselves.

“The main interaction started after the first cut-off list was out. We got up to 50 queries related only to the website every day till the fourth list came out,” says DUSU vice-president Sunny Dedha.

Soon the online admission process became the reason for most students to reach out to DUSU. With the problems which the college officials or the teachers could not resolve, they looked up to DUSU for help.

Different roles
Traditionally, the roles of student political groups during admissions and elections are different.

During admissions, members from different student parties work as `friends’ to help the applicants. Often, rivals coordinate with each other to help freshers.

For example, with the Indian National Students Organisation (INSO), which is focused mainly on making students from outside Delhi feel comfortable.  They have a scattered presence on DU and aren’t too strong in student politics. This actually helps them maintain friendly relations with the more dominant groups.

Sachin Namberdar, an Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) member, says INSO is a hit amongst Jat students. At times, he has sent Jat students to INSO volunteers during admissions, believing they would deal better with their problems.

He says top leaders across student parties may not choose to be friends with each other, but this doesn’t apply down the line.

“Without friendship, it is also difficult to climb the ladder of success,” says INSO spokesperson Ankur Dhama. “Ideology is not everything,” he adds.

And student parties have in the past kept their ideological differences aside for what they perceived to be the common interests of all students.

“In 2013, all parties, including NSUI, ABVP, and All India Students Association (AISA), came together to demand rollback of FYUP (Four-Year Undergrtaduate Programme),” says Dedha. 

There are other common agenda, highlighted in the manifestos of rival parties. On the implementation of room rent control, starting evening colleges or increasing the number of hostels, Congress-linked National Students Union of India (NSUI), BJP-affiliated ABVP and INSO, all stand together.

Protests
While the admissions are on, student groups have indicated their presence on the campus through protests.

The NSUI protested outside the dean’s office on Chhatra Marg on the first day of implementation of admissions through the online
system.

“Many students were not able to fill their forms online. As soon as the cut-offs were out, the DU website would crash. We demanded from the dean to make the system offline or increase the efficiency of the website,” says NSUI general secretary Ameet Singh Teema.
On the very next day, the university sent the NSUI a letter stating that they would rectify the problem and make the website faster. 

The ABVP held a protest during admission time against Delhi University’s Teachers Association (DUTA), asking them to withdraw their decision to not evaluate
answer papers of undergraduate students.  Soon after that, the teachers agreed to begin checking the exam papers.

“Most admission-seekers are aware that in case they face any problem with the authorities, they can come to us,” says DUSU’s Dedha.

“We go straight to the principal and sort out their problems. The principal of any college is never too busy for us” he says.

Similary, the union sorted out a problem over admission after the third cut-off at Satyawati College, he says. Dedha visited the principal’s office with fellow ABVP
members.

Many lost souls, who have come to DU for the first time, wander outside DUSU office looking for help. They believe that DUSU can help them get a seat in any course at any DU college.  In this, obviously, they are disappointed.

DUSU office
Both ABVP and NSUI have set up help desks outside many colleges. But at the DUSU office, it’s mostly members from ABVP, the group which swept DUSU elections last year.
Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS), Aam Aadmi Party’s student wing, created some noise last year when it entered student politics, but has withdrawn from the coming DUSU elections. AISA also appear to be missing from the campus during this admission season. NSUI remains the sole competitor to ABVP.

While ABVP members sit inside the DUSU office and attend to admission-related queries from students, members from NSUI are seen outside trying to talk to others.

But overall, student groups are subdued this admission season.