DU allocates an equivalent number of extra seats to the ECA and sports quotas

The University of Delhi (DU) has decided to give sports and Extracurricular Activities (ECA) quotas equal weight when admitting students to supernumerary seats beginning with the upcoming admission session. All DU-affiliated institutions are now required to allocate a 2.5% weight to both the Sports and ECA quotas.

Up until now, colleges limited the number of ECA and athletics category admissions to 5 percent of the total intake. In addition, the supernumerary seats would be calculated according to programme, not college. This policy modification is an ongoing component of DU’s admissions process reform. According to a recent motion enacted by the academic council (AC) of the University of Delhi, CUET scores will carry a 25% weight for admission to supernumerary seats, while performance, trials, and certificates obtained by students in their field of talent will carry a 75% weight.

In an interview with Education Times, Haneet Gandhi, dean of admissions at DU, stated, “Until now, a 5% cap was allowed on a college-by-college basis based on a college’s authorised enrollment.” When conducting admissions for supernumerary seats, colleges could independently assign weight to the ECA and sports quotas from the total 5%. Some colleges allocated 1% and 4% of the Sports and ECA quota, while others maintained the ratio of 2% and 3%.”

However, colleges must now assign an equal weight of 2.5% to both the Sports quota and the ECA quota. Given that all supernumerary quotas are program-based as opposed to college-based, a uniform admissions policy should be implemented for all supernumerary quotas. “This would simplify the allocation process, as all extra seats are program-based and not college-based,” Gandhi explains.

“All other supernumerary seats under various classifications, such as People with Benchmark Disability (PWBD), Children of Armed Forces Personnel, and Kashmiri Migrants, have been programme-based from the start. Therefore, we determined that the extra seats for the sports and ECA quotas should also be calculated by programme and not by college. This would introduce uniformity to the admissions process for extra seats,” Gandhi explains.

This program-by-program standardisation would make the complete allocation process democratic and reduce inconsistency.