In first cut-off, 41,000 admissions at DU, 31,000 from CBSE schools

New Delhi: The Delhi University on Thursday dismissed allegations of favouritism towards state boards and said it maintains "equity to all meritorious candidates coming not only from Indian states but also from abroad".

Amid allegations that students from state boards with perfect scores are getting admissions to prominent colleges and are being favoured, Registrar Vikas Gupta said the university is an equal opportunity provider.

"Being a Central university, the University of Delhi equally and uniformly values the academic credentials of all the candidates irrespective of their states and school boards.

"This year too, equal opportunity was maintained by accepting applications based on the merit only," he said in a statement.

He dismissed reports of favouritism. "The University of Delhi strongly refutes and condemns the falsity of news which is being circulated regarding favouring candidates from a few boards. Being a prestigious Central University with a long legacy of quality teaching and research, candidates across the country aspire to study in our colleges / departments / centres. It is our utmost responsibility to maintain justice and equity to all meritorious candidates coming not only from Indian States but also from abroad," Gupta said.

In the first cut-off list, 60,904 candidates have applied to various colleges, according to data shared by the registrar.

Out of these, 46,054 were from the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the rest from all other boards across the country.

By the end of Thursday, 31,172 candidates from CBSE, 2,365 from Kerala Board of Higher Secondary Education, 1,540 from Board of School Education Haryana, 1,429 from Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations and 1,301 from Board of Secondary Education Rajasthan in addition to other state boards have successfully secured their admissions, he said.

On Wednesday, Professor Rakesh Kumar Pandey, a faculty member of the varsity and member of RSS-affiliated National Democratic Teachers'' Front had alleged a conspiracy behind a large number of students from Kerala State Board getting admission to university colleges and had even used the term "Marks Jihad''. His comments met criticism from other faculty members and student outfits.