28 out of the 110 Delhi University colleges get financial aid from the Delhi government.
Pritthish Roy, a 17-year-old Delhi boy just out of school, is looking for admission in the coveted Delhi University. The latest proposal by the Aam Aadmi Party government to provide 85 per cent quota to Delhi-based students should have pleased him, but the teenager says he is not happy.
"I am from Delhi but I don't care, reservations for our generation should not be encouraged at all... it should be completely on merit. If you have the marks, congratulations, if you don't, too bad," says Pritthish.
Another student we spoke to, 16-year-old Suvansh Manektala from one of Delhi's top schools, DPS RK Puram, agrees with Pritthish.
"Reservation under the Delhi domicile should not be an issue, DU is rich in culture because they have people from various backgrounds who form the coveted campus culture, this will destroy everything DU stands for," he says.
The Delhi government has proposed reserving 85 per cent seats in state government funded colleges from the city. In a letter to the Vice Chancellor of Delhi University, the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government wrote: "If people of Delhi are funding these colleges, don't they have a right to benefit from them? While thousands from across the country come and study in Delhi University, our students are forced to go outside."
28 out of the 110 Delhi University colleges get financial aid from the Delhi government. However, DU is clear - it is a central university and reservation cannot be made based on domicile.
A top Delhi University official told NDTV, "This is an age old demand but we are clear DU is a central university which means students from any part of the country have to be treated at par. Under the DU Act, even if a college is 100 per cent funded by a state, we cannot provide reservations."
But not all students are happy with this move, Shivin Uppal, also a Delhi student, says, "I believe as a Delhi-ite, I have the right to study in my city and just because the governments in other states do not provide quality education in their states, we guys in Delhi should not suffer."
The demand for reservation for Delhi students in DU is not new. Both the Congress and the BJP during have earlier campaigned for reservations.