MULTIPLE PARADOXES CONFRONTING DELHI UNIVERSITY

IT'S often said that Delhi University is full of paradoxes. Nothing explains this better than several of its colleges crowding the top colleges list recently released by National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) of Ministry of Education and still 7000 of the undergraduate seats remaining vacant.

- 

In all 10 colleges from Delhi University have secured places in the top 20 of the India Rankings 2025, with top five colleges Hindu College, Miranda House, Hans Raj College, Kirori Mal College, and St Stephen's College, all belonging to the hoary university.

While the social media platforms have been full of accolades for whoever needs to be pestered ever since NIRF ranking came out by those seeking favours, there has been no post on why such a large number of 7000 seats are remaining vacant.

Delhi University (DU) has stood as the gold standard of higher education in India. It has produced leaders in politics, academia, literature, bureaucracy, and business.

Its low fees, vibrant campus culture, and tradition of intellectual ferment gave it a magnetism unmatched by most institutions in the country.

Today, DU is losing students because it is looking increasingly unremarkable. More than facing competition from the other universities which have come up, both in the private and the government sector, in the national capital region and other centres like Pune and those down South, DU is being weakened by its own lethargy.