DU to Reserve Seats for Acid Attack Survivors, Students with Thalassemia

The University of Delhi will reserve seats for acid attack survivors and students with dwarfism and thalassemia this year. The varsity has initiated the registration process for the admission to UG courses for the academic session 2017-18. Recently, the varsity revised the Rights for Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. According to the revised rules, 5% of seats are applicable for the students with disabilities. As per the sources, the varsity will reserve around 2,500 seats for these candidates.

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On the other hand, the varsity expanded the list of disabilities. According to the revised list, the following people are applicable for 5% reservation under Rights for Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016: -

• Physical Disability
• Intellectual Disability
• Mental illness
• Disability caused due to chronic neurological conditions
• Blood Disorders

As per the revised rules, acid attack survivors will also come under PwD Category. According to the PwD guidelines of Delhi University, “acid attack victims” means a person who is disfigured due to violent assaults with the use of acid or other corrosive substances.

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The varsity took this decision with an objective to encourage more students with mental and physical challenges to pursue higher education. According to the new admission norms of the varsity, more categories will come under the Act including -

• Dwarfism
• Thalassemia

These two categories were not under the PwD category earlier. Until 2016, the varsity reserved 3% of seats of PwD candidates, and these seats were supernumerary essentially meaning that they are over and above the sanctioned intake.

So far, around 260 candidates under PwD category registered for various courses at Delhi University. However, the varsity is yet to upload the revised guidelines for PwD category on the official website.