While Delhi University laid out clear cut guidelines for assistance to candidates who are physically handicapped, it seems as though it was all in vain. While the Equal Opportunity Cell had clearly stated that each admission centre must have a special helpdesk for the disabled, there was no sign of it even on Day 2 of admissions.
Most colleges don’t even know that separate helpdesks need to be given to the handicapped. However, Vipin Kumar, Deputy Dean of Students’ Welfare and member of the Equal Opportunities Cell said that everything was under control and necessary steps are being taken. Apart from special helpdesks, the Equal Opportunities Cell had issued an advisory to all the 18 admission centres to have separate counters and a set of volunteers who would only pay attention to the disabled candidates. The university had also issued a circular to the principals of all colleges stating, “The colleges
must provide separate dedicated assessable space to deal with the process of admission of the students with disabilities.” However, none of that was seen at the North or South Campus.
The helpdesks that were provided for all students were the ones that were helping the disabled candidates and no separate counter for them was visible. In fact the Daulat Ram College in North Campus had merged the SC/ST counter with the counter for physically handicapped, thus making it difficult for such candidates to access it.
Gargi College in South Campus was one of the few colleges where separate helpdesks for the students with disability were present. Dr Shashi Tyagi said, “We have taken full care of the students with special needs and a separate helpdesk has been set up to help them fill forms.”