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As central universities are now admitting undergraduate students on the basis of their Common University Entrance Test (CUET) scores, Delhi University hostel authorities, too, have adopted the new system to allot accommodation, leaving many students worried about their chances.
Earlier, rooms in the Delhi University hostels were allotted for undergraduate students on the basis of their Class 12 scores. Some colleges even conducted interviews. The new system, however, has not gone down well with many who, despite having scored well in the board exams, are still awaiting hostel allotment.
Pooja Soni, a first-year BSc (Hons) student of computer science from Indraprastha College for Women, said she was unable to get a place in DU hostels even though her CUET score is 520. “I am currently living as a paying guest; the monthly rent is Rs 10,000. A college hostel would have cost me almost the same but it would have been safer. One of the biggest problems I face in private accommodation is the food quality,” she told indianexpress.com.
Aman Gupta, a first-year student of BA Economics and Commerce from Hansraj College, said he did not get a hostel room even though all his formalities were completed. “I scored 669/700 in my CUET and 98.25 per cent in Class 12. All my formalities were done. However, they never allotted me a hostel room. Now I live in Model Town in a rented flat where I have to pay Rs 15,000. In addition to the added travel time, I am also missing out on campus life. If I were living on campus, it would have helped me meet fellow students. Model Town is a residential area where it is difficult to find students, let alone student-centred services,” he said.
Yaman, a first-year student of B Com (Hons), agrees. “Campus life is different, and those who do not live on the campus, like me, miss out on a lot of opportunities. We also have to constantly worry about reaching back or reaching the campus on time, considering Delhi traffic,” he said.
If two students have the same CUET score, some colleges consider their Class 12 score as a tie-breaker, whereas others consider their age. “In case of a tie-breaker between two candidates, it will be either the Class 12 score or the age; most probably Class 12 marks,” said Poonam Verma, principal of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College.
Some students are also facing a delay in hostel allotment. A first-year student who got admission to B Com (Hons) at Shri Ram College of Commerce was unable to get to her hostel on time. “My classes in DU started on November 2. However, hostel rooms were allotted to us on November 17. So, for 15 days I had to get paying-guest accommodation. The problem is that nobody really offers a room these days for 15 days. The contract is usually for 30 days,” she told indianexpress.com. “I had to use my personal contacts to get a room for a month. So I stayed there for 15 days but had to pay the rent for 30 days,” she said.
Akshit Dahiya, president of the Delhi University Student Union (DUSU), said the shortage of hostel rooms was a recurring problem. “Like every year, we raised this issue before the university authorities. We told them that the hostel seats are much fewer in comparison to the college seats. After the CUET, we have observed that a large number of students come from various states of India but only 2-3 per cent of them get hostel rooms. The rest have to settle for distant and more expensive off-campus accommodation,” he told indianexpress.com.
Another issue the student union is raising is that “more than 50 per cent of DU colleges do not have hostels”. “As a result, some students who have got good CUET scores have been unable to get a place in DU hostels,” Dahiya said.
“Students then have to look for private paying-guest and other accommodation. The rent in these private places work out to nearly Rs 1 lakh annually, and that is too expensive for several students. Some of them even have to give up their seats and choose state colleges,” the student leader added.
The DUSU has therefore proposed the construction of hostels in the university’s unused lanes and areas and called for legislation to regulate rent for student accommodation.
The university has hostels in Daulat Ram College, Hansraj College, Hindu College, Indraprastha College for Women, Kirori Mal College, Ramjas College, Shri Ram College of Commerce, Lady Sri Ram college, Shri Guru Teg Bahadur Khalsa College, St. Stephen’s College, Sri Venkateswara College, Bharati College, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College, Janki Devi Memorial College, Keshav Mahavidyalaya, Lady Irwin College, Maharaja Agrasen College, Shaheed Rajguru College of Applied Sciences for Women, Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies and Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce.
