NEW DELHI: Never in its long history
has St Stephen's College failed to bring out its admission list on schedule
— usually a day after the interviews for a given subject are over. Sunday,
however, was an aberration.
In the evening, groups of parents could
be seen waiting at the college for the final admission list for the economics
and chemistry honours courses, interviews for which had been completed on
Saturday. Till late Sunday night, however, no list had come out.
Sources in the college said the list had been sent to the bishop of
Delhi for scrutiny — again, something that has never happened before. Said
a senior teacher: "The recommendations for both courses had been finalized on
Saturday evening and sent to the pro tem administrator."
The matter
apparently came to light when teachers within the college started getting
inquiries from parents on when the list would be out. "We were surprised since
the list comes out the next day, but this year it hadn't been put up. When we
inquired, we were told the list would go to the supreme council to ensure that
the admission policy pertaining to the Christian candidates has been adhered
to."
When TOI contacted college authorities, however, no one was
willing to comment. Members of departments of both economics and chemistry
confirmed that the list had been finalized by the respective departments, but
claimed they had no idea why it was not out till late Sunday night. Governing
body member, Ashutosh Mathur, confirmed that the list usually comes out a day
later, so as to bring down any possibilities of change in the list. "But the
list hasn't come out today yet," he added.
Sunil Mathews,
spokesperson for St Stephens, claimed he had no knowledge of the bishop asking
for the list, and refused to comment. He did admit, however, that the supreme
council had planned to audit the admissions process to see how the new admission
policy had fared. Pro tem administrator, M S Frank, said: "I don't want to
comment on reports about the list being sent to the bishop for scrutiny. The
list will be out tomorrow. Interestingly, sources claim admissions in the
economics departments saw moments of tension as there were no physically
challenged Christian candidates for the 10% quota. These seats, according to the
new admission policy, would have gone to the physically challenged or SC/ST
candidates, though governing body members from the college want this to go to
the general category.
rumu.banerjee@timesgroup.com
www.missionadmission.in