46 Of 71 Candidates Are Visually Impaired</p>

New Delhi: Delhi University seems to be getting a better response from differently–abled aspirants this year. At least 71 students with special needs have already registered for admission in DU colleges over last two days. A DU official said they were excited about the increasing number of such applicants. They assured that all possible facilities were being provided to them.

"The initial response of students is definitely better than last year. We registered 31 students on Monday and 40 on the day after. Many of them have performed really well in the class XII exams. A candidate – Alka – has notched up 95% aggregate. She has a locomotor disability but topped in the special category in the city," said Bipin Tiwari, deputy dean, differently–abled students.

DU reserves 3% seats over and above a total 54,000 seats for the differently-abled. However, only less than half of the total reserved seats get filled every year. "We had finally admitted about 600 students against 1620 seats," Tiwari said.

Among those, who have registered so far, 46 are visually–impaired. "We have trained our volunteers to help them fill up their choices for courses and colleges. Though BA was the most sought–after till a few years back, these students are now going for sociology and geography with political science being one of their favourites," he said.

Most of them, however, wanted North Campus colleges, he added. "We advised them that they should opt for a college, which is closer to their residence as commuting can be a problem," he said. DU is also running two special buses on the North Campus for such students.