Students face uncertain future as St Stephen’s denies admission despite allocation of seats
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, August 21
Six students from across India are facing an uncertain future after being denied admission to St Stephen’s College despite being allocated seats based on their CUET (Common University Entrance Test) results. The college dean informed the students on Wednesday that the seats were already full, leaving the students and their families distraught.
The students, Hargun Singh Ahluwalia, Anantjeet Verma, Aleena Imran, Gursanjan Singh Natt, Alok Ranjan Singh and Nishika Sahoo, who had travelled from various parts of the country, including Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, sought help from the Vice-Chancellor’s office at Delhi University. However, their attempts to meet Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh were unsuccessful. Instead, they were able to submit a letter detailing their grievances. The students have now vowed to move the Delhi HC to seek a stay on further admissions until their issue is resolved.
Expressing his frustration, Alok Ranjan Singh, one of the affected students who scored 770 out of 800 in the CUET, told The Tribune correspondent. “Even today, the DU website shows my application as ‘under progress, documents to be verified by the college’. The deadline for finalising the college admissions was August 20 at 5 pm. I repeatedly called St Stephen’s authority Sanjay Kumar, who assured me the verification would be done soon. But the situation remains unchanged. I did everything I could, and I have proof. So where did I go wrong?” he questioned.
The situation has also taken a toll on parents, many of whom travelled long distances to be with their children. Anu Chauhan, the mother of Anantjeet Verma who scored 777 out of 800, said, “St Stephen’s refused to admit our children after their seat allocation was confirmed post-CUET. Our students are among the top scorers, but they didn’t receive confirmation until the deadline passed. When we called the authorities, they assured us that the verification would be completed soon. But at 9 pm on Tuesday, we were told the seats were filled. Yet, the application status on the DU website still shows ‘under process’. Who got those seats? Our children met the cut-off, so why were they denied admission?”
Another student, Gursanjan Singh Natt, who also scored 770 in CUET, was allotted a seat in the BA for Economics and Philosophy at St Stephen’s. He said, “The college, in its tussle with the university, hasn’t verified my documents, so I’m now ineligible for admission. If the university hadn’t allocated seats to the college, they should have refused the allocation in the first place. Now, my chances of getting into any other college are gone.”
Despite repeated attempts to contact Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh, The Tribune received no response.
St Stephen’s College, ranked third in the country according to the 2024 National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), has around 410 seats available each year, with 50 per cent reserved. The college has produced notable alumni, including Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Shashi Tharoor, actors Konkona Sen Sharma and Richa Chadha, IAS officer Shaktikanta Das, and former Himachal Pradesh CM Virbhadra Singh.
rejects 12 Applications of single girl child
New Delhi: Delhi University’s St Stephen’s College has rejected the applications of 12 ‘single girl child’ students seeking admission to its undergraduate programme, a university official said on Wednesday. The applications were submitted under a supernumerary quota created by the Delhi University (DU) as a special provision implemented this year. However, the college did not accept these applications, according to Dean of Academics Haneet Gandhi. Calls and texts to St Stephen's Principal John Varghese for comment did not elicit a response. PTI
