Over 9,500 Seats Still Vacant at Delhi University, AADTA Slams CUET-Based Admission System

Over 9,500 undergraduate seats at the University of Delhi remain vacant despite seven admission rounds. AADTA blames CUET-CSAS under NEP 2020 and calls for restoring college-level admissions.Vacancies include 709 at Bhagini Nivedita, 674 at Aditi College, 387 at Zakir Husain, 385 at Kalindi college.

More than 50 days after the admission process for undergraduate courses began, Delhi University (DU) is staring at a major crisis: as many as 9,543 seats remain vacant across its affiliated colleges despite seven admission rounds.

According to official data for the mop-up round, several colleges are among the worst hit: Bhagini Nivedita College (709 seats), Aditi College (674), Zakir Husain College (387), Kalindi College (385), Dyal Singh College (311), Bharti College (307), Shyam Lal College (301), and Deshbandhu College (295).

The All India Ad-hoc Teachers’ Association (AADTA) has termed the situation a “grave danger” for the reputation of India’s most prestigious university, blaming the CUET-based Central Seat Allocation System (CSAS) introduced under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

Vacant seats despite seven rounds of admissions

Delhi University (DU) has already completed seven admission rounds, yet a large number of seats remain unfilled. With the mop-up round now underway, faculty members and education observers fear that vacancies may persist, raising questions about the effectiveness of the centralized system.

AADTA argued that the CUET-CSAS system has not only stretched admissions unnecessarily long but also created a mismatch between student choices and college allotments. “This impacts both teaching and learning and may even burden teachers in the future,” the association said.

The Ministry of Education (MoE) has reportedly started identifying “redundant departments” based on the number of filled seats, sparking further anxiety among teachers and administrators. If departments are scaled down, it could hit academic diversity and faculty workload.

Students losing out on academics

AADTA pointed out that students who secure admission late lose over a month of classes, disrupting the academic calendar and affecting classroom learning. In the long term, this could undermine DU’s global and national standing.

AADTA demands rollback of centralized admissions

Former DUTA President and AADTA National In-charge Dr. Aditya Narayan Misra demanded that DU return to the earlier system, where colleges fixed their own cut-offs and granted admissions. “The only solution is to restore admission rights to colleges after DUET. Unless the university addresses this issue soon, its reputation will face irreparable damage,” Misra warned. 

CUET and DU admissions

CUET was introduced in 2022 under NEP 2020 as a common entrance test for central universities. Before CUET, DU followed the cut-off system, where top colleges often closed admissions at 98–100%. The CUET-CSAS model centralized the process under DU’s control, taking admission powers away from individual colleges. While CUET was aimed at bringing uniformity and fairness, critics argue that it has instead led to seat vacancies, delays, and mismatch in college-course preferences.

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