Online DU admissions log out small businesses

On a humid July afternoon, Manish Kumar sits idle behind the counter of his tiny photocopy and print shop at Malka Ganj chowk, scrolling through his phone.

- MD KAIFEE ALAM

The June-July months used to be the highest-grossing period for his business because of the Delhi University (DU) admissions. But not anymore.

Since Covid-19, the DU's shift to only online admissions through Common Seat Allocation System (CSAS) has severely impacted small businesses—from stationary shops to eateries and rickshaw pullers—in the vicinity of the Delhi University and its colleges across Delhi. The university has been offering both online and offline admissions since 2016.

"June-July used to be our busiest months," Kumar said, glancing toward the street. "There used to be long queues of parents and students who needed photocopies, affidavits, forms, photos, etc. for admission formalities. Admission meant business for us, but now it's over."

This year too, the DU admission season has begun, but not as usual. It is no longer a community event, but a solitary online task. For decades, the admission process was marked by long queues outside college gates, bustling markets, rickshaw-pullers ferrying anxious parents from one office to another and stationary shops overwhelmed with demand for photocopies and forms. Today, everything falls silent, as parents and students adapt to the new shift.