New Delhi June 21
Everybody wants to get admissions in the so-called prestigious colleges. The problem is that most of the aspirants may not get a chance even to apply in these colleges as the cut-off marks fixed by them will be too high. The popular ploy to get the tag of these colleges will, then, be to enroll themselves for the least preferred courses such as Sanskrit and Hindi Honours at the undergraduate level in the first year. Even if they might fail in the first year, they could get a Pass course in the second year. But not anymore. This provision has been completely scrapped by the university, as students have to pass the minimum eligibility of marks laid down by the college concerned.

“There was a time around four years back when these applicants used to outsmart the college authorities by choosing such courses and then deliberately flunking their first year exams to get transferred to a Pass course in the second year. According to the norms laid down by Delhi University, a student, who is unable to clear his/her first year honours examinations, will be transferred to BA Pass in the second year,” says Dr A. K. Reddy, principal of Sri Venkateswara College.

“Some of the students have even approached the high court after we refused them admission in the second year in a Pass course. But thankfully, we have won those cases and now the college has the authority to nullify the admission of such non-serious students. If such students want to appear in the second year Pass course, they have to have the minimum marks laid down by the college,” he added.

The Dean, Student Welfare, Delhi University, Dr Hema Raghavan, also echoed the same views. “There were students who used to enroll themselves for Sanskrit Honours as the minimum marks required for such courses were quite less compared to other subjects. It was just their clever way to get the course like BA pass in the second year. But now, we have completely scrapped the admission of such students and colleges are taking adequate measures to avoid the flow of such students,” she said.

“Now only those students who fulfill the criterion of minimum marks can be admitted even if they fail in the first year examinations,” she added.

“There was a time when courses like Hindi and Sanskrit were considered to be the best deal at the undergraduate level. It is very sad that these subjects had been turned into a ticket to get transferred to BA Pass,” said Alpana Srivastav, an applicant of Hindi Honours.

“Even my mother had done Hindi Honours at the undergraduate level. Those days, she tells me, students were really serious about pursuing such a course,” she added.