One of the largest universities in India has historically been male skewed — but it is now trying to fix it

• The University of Delhi witnessed a gender gap in student enrollment in its colleges.
  
• The varsity recently directed 17 prominent colleges to extend 1% relaxation to female applicants, to boost female participation.
  
• Dyal Singh College and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College recorded nearly equal gender distribution at 45% for 2018-19.
  

Colleges under Delhi University are struggling with gender parity as it is skewed majorly towards men. There are as many as 90 colleges under the university. And, major gaps are noticed in The Hindu College and Kirorimal College.

Girls comprise of 30% of the total student body in Kirorimal College, principal Vibha Singh Chauhan told TOI. This is in spite of the fact that the college provides equal amenities to students, regardless of gender.

Several colleges under the University of Delhi (DU) provide concessions on the aggregate percentage criteria for female students, for a few subjects.

Recently, the varsity recently directed 17 prominent colleges to extend 1% relaxation to female applicants, to boost female participation.

The move is aimed at “supporting girl students and encouraging females from the minority sections to step forward,” said I S Bakshi, Principal of Dyal Singh College. The college aims to have a gender parity amongst its students, with at least 50% female participation.

Dyal Singh College, Shivaji College and Acharya Narendra Dev College are amongst those which have implemented the university’s directives.

These special concessions led to a significant rise in overall female participation, said Vipin Aggarwal, Principal of Aurobindo College. According to him, the female percentage in the student body has increased from 25% to 35%, due to the rebate.

Despite that, the statistics are largely skewed towards men. According to a TOI report, Indira Gandhi Institute for Physical Sciences had the least women count, at 16% in 2018-19. While Dyal Singh College and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College recorded nearly equal gender distribution at 45%.

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