DU sports trials get off to a false start

They were joined by the applicants,who called the procedure “unfair and illegal”.

“Candidates cannot be judged on the basis of a single performance during the trials. Moreover,the 75 per cent weightage given to certificates is pointless since the certificates can be easily faked,” said NSUI member Amit Chaudhary.

“It is not a good idea,especially for team sports since each college has its own requirements,” said Jilke Nelore,a tennis player.

Students coming in from outside Delhi also had a hard time going through the procedure because of the prevailing confusion.

“My nieces from Jodhpur came directly from the railway station only to find that the admit cards are no longer available. There is utter confusion here and we don’t know where to go” said one Archana Adnani.

Meanwhile,assistant professors and lecturers of Physical Education from nearly 50 colleges have disassociated themselves from the admission process and the centralised sports trials.

“We were not consulted during the framing of the revised procedure,despite being members of the sports council,and it was formed in the most undemocratic manner. Our repeated efforts of trying to point out obvious flaws have failed,yet we are still open to a dialogue,” said Dr Beenu Gupta,assistant professor of physical education at Kirori Mal College.

Only 29 of 80 DU colleges have sent the list of candidates applying through the sports quota to the university.

There were also rumours of zonal-level players being given more weightage than national-level players in the trials. “These are merely interpretation problems and will be sorted out once a proper clarification is sent to each college,” said Prof S K Vij,Dean Students’ Welfare.

The agitation gained momentum as the Delhi University Teachers’ Association decided to disassociate itself from the admissions through the sports quota. This resolution has been passed by 47 DU colleges.

Meanwhile,colleges,including Kamla Nehru and St Stephen’s,have already begun their sports trials at the individual college level. “Our trials are followed by an academic interview,and the students are admitted by June 23. Thus,we will be adhering by a different procedure,” said Nandita Narain,a faculty member of St Stephen’s.

Crisis deepens at Geography department
Faculty of the Geography department of Delhi University joined the protest of the seven candidates who staged a dharna at the Delhi School of Economics campus on Thursday demanding admission to PhD programme. A protester,Rajesh Kumar Abhay,alleged Goegraphy HoD Barkatullah Khan did not forward their names to the Board of Research Studies. “We met the V-C,and he asked us to wait. We need a deadline by when the situation will be resolved. Our careers are at stake. If nothing works,we will go on an indefinite hunger strike,” he added. Other candidates threatened to move court “if action is not taken on time”.

Text:AADITI ISAAC Photo:AMIT MEHRA