DU okays physical mop-up admission round; to confer honorary doctorate on Sri Lankan PM

New Delhi, Sep 12 (PTI) Delhi University on Friday decided to hold a second mop-up admission round but in physical mode to fill vacant undergraduate seats, framed uniform guidelines for PhD courses, and resolved to confer an honorary doctorate on Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dr Harini Amarasuriya, an alumna of the Hindu College.

The decisions were taken at the 1,278th meeting of the Executive Council (EC), chaired by Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh.

At the outset, the EC passed a resolution welcoming the 15th Vice President of India, C P Radhakrishnan, who is also the Chancellor of DU.

During the zero hour, Singh suggested that an "Open Mop-Up round should be considered so that students can get admission directly in the college through spot admission in physical mode." The EC authorised the Vice Chancellor to formulate the policy.

EC member Aman Kumar told PTI, “The VC has been given the power to make the policy for the spot round. For the students who will not be able to come to the university physically, there will be provision for them to join online." EC member Sunil Sharma said, "Around 7,000–7,500 seats are vacant for the UG admissions as of now, and most of these seats are reserved seats for SC, ST, and OBC candidates. The university has decided to hold a physical mop-up admission round to fill these seats." The EC also passed guidelines to bring uniformity in PhD courses across departments from 2025-26.

"The total credits required for the PhD course will range from 12 to 16, with the distribution of the minimum 12 credits being as follows: Four credits of Research Methodology or Advanced Research Methodology, two credits of Research Publication Ethics, two credits of Research Tools and four credits of Discipline Specific Elective Course,” the university said in a statement.

On the structure of the new four-year undergraduate programme under NEP 2020, the Vice Chancellor said, "Research discussion rooms should be made in every college and rooms should also be arranged for teachers." Colleges will be required to provide grants for this from their development funds. The EC also cleared the proposal, earlier approved by the Academic Council, to award an honorary doctorate to the Sri Lankan prime minister.

“Dr Harini Amarasuriya is coming to India probably on 17–18 October 2025, and a special convocation will be held to confer the honorary doctorate degree on her,” Singh said.

Amarasuriya studied Sociology at the Hindu College between 1991 and 1994 on a Ministry of External Affairs scholarship. Meanwhile, faculty members flagged concerns about thousands of seats lying vacant.

Professor Abha Dev Habib of Miranda House said in a statement, “Over 9,000 UG seats are still remaining vacant across colleges — from campus to periphery. This is indeed worrisome. CUET is an unnecessary barricade which the local population doesn’t want to overcome, and students from outside may not be interested in those streams or colleges.” On September 3, DU announced its first mop-up round, which departed from CUET scores and considered Class 12 marks instead.

The physical round is aimed at expediting admissions, as teaching is already underway. PTI MHS RHL