Every DU Kid’s 9-Step Guide to a Degree
University of Delhi, as is well-known, takes a minimum of two years to give students their hard-earned degree. It seems a little shocking that a university is so mired in red-tape that it takes almost the same time to print a sheet of paper (yes, I know it is watermarked GSM-70 paper) as the student spent studying to earn that degree. Before you jump to the conclusion that these are how things are in India, it should be noted that other Indian universities like the Indraprastha, Mumbai and Bangalore Universities furnish degrees in a few months after the results are declared.
No matter how much you love the University of Delhi, I doubt there is any student who would not want his or her umbilical cord with his alma-mater to be cut at the earliest and get certified for the three-five years he spent studying. While you cannot do anything about the bureaucracy, there are somethings you can do to get your degree before the rest of the flock.
First, a little background and context. I finished my Master’s in Ancient History in 2016: the exams were conducted in May 2016, my results were declared online on 31 July 2016 and I saw that I had flunked in a paper I had prepared well for, which led me to apply for re-evaluation. While the rest of the herd passed the gate on 31 July, I ‘officially’ passed on Wednesday, 26 October 2016. Despite that, I got my Master’s degree within four months i.e. on Tuesday, 14 February 2017 i.e. before anyone else did.
If I could get the degree in record time, so could you, and benefit from the mistakes I made. It is important to realize that the degree application procedures changed a little bit in 2015, when I had applied for my undergraduate (Bachelor’s) degree. The new procedure is clearly enunciated on DU’s website. I shall return to both the old and new later in the article. But, sadly, because of the intercom not being repaired for years, the colleges are not aware of the new process. Again, although I was studying at the Faculty of Arts/Social Sciences, I was enlisted at the Hindu College for paperwork. Your experience might differ depending on your college or if you are from South Campus.
1. Starting Out
I called up the alumni department (+9111-2766-7934; +9111-2766-7833; +9111-2766-6665) in the last week of November 2016 to know how to obtain a degree. It was not really needed, but since I had the time, why not get something done and dusted? I highly recommend calling the above numbers to make yourself aware of any new rules.
Now, visit http://app.du.ac.in/degree_conv/index.php/predegree/personal-details/login. If you are planning to leave India for higher studies or to take up-residence abroad, then it is easier for you to do this. Also, if you have an unconditional offer from a university abroad, then it helps.
Open an account on the above link using your email address. You will receive an automatic email telling you your registration number. Save that email and download that on your computer if you want, because you will need it.
2. Download the required documents and their formats
Visit http://app.du.ac.in/degree_conv/uploads/affidavit/Guidelines-advance%20degree.pdf to download the formats of the Declaration and Affidavit. You can always edit those PDFs itself, but it is better to copy + paste that on a word processor document, or type the entire thing out (if you are not lazy) to get a clear formatting. The reason I say this is that the authorities are going to find a lot of faults with your application, that any right-minded person will consider nit-picking at best, and you will have to go back to the drawing board. In such a case, it will be much easier to edit a Word (PC)/Pages (Mac) document than a PDF. In my case, for instance, the Hindu College authorities asked me to make the application afresh merely because I had used the title ‘Dr’ for my father’s name while it was not so in their college records. If you have had your share of DU experience, then this would not have surprised you.
Once you make your Declaration, print out at least two copies of it and proceed to your college. If you have not already read the instructions on the website (please see first link), let me inform you that you will need to get these signed by your college principal or your HOD (the latter in case of a Master’s).
By the way… there is a provision on the online application to fill out your college or your department name. The signatory on the Declaration should match what you filled out on the form i.e. if you have entered your College name as Hansraj College, you have to get the Declaration signed by its Principal. If you think that getting it signed by your HOD will be much easier, then leave the College field in the online form blank.
But, I had already filled the college field in the online form, and the absence of the Hindu College Principal prompted me to get my Declaration signed by my HOD, which was pretty easy. But it got rejected because of the discrepancy I mentioned above and I had to go back to square one. So, do not commit the same mistake.
You can even open two accounts on the website and proceed both-ways, in case you do not know who might get ready to sign on your Declaration first!
When I went to Hindu College, I was shocked to find that the college staff is not at all aware of the new procedures…
3. The old and the new
The old procedure entailed the student to write an application for a degree (handwritten or typed) addressed to the Dean of Examinations. There was no particular format for this, so everybody was free to follow whatever format s/he deemed fit (Hey dean, i wanna degree man…). This was then forwarded by the Principal of the college. In case you do not know, ‘forwarded’ does not mean really forwarded but just signed and stamped by the principal. You had to take the application to Window Nr. 5 in North Campus and then furnish whatever materials they ask you for.
The new procedure clears a lot of confusion in this regard, but adds another layer to the bureaucracy. Also, it is not as if doing it online means you do not have to run from pillar to post. In fact, now you have to do both the online and the offline. Since the college staff does not know it, and you have to follow the new procedure at the headquarters, you should be prepared to explain why you want the Declaration signed.
Tip If you are applying for this degree to pursue higher education abroad, then write the name of only one university on your Declaration and Affidavit to which you have gained admission. I tried to be honest and wrote the names of all universities that had given me offers and I was asked, for the second time, at the headquarters to make the application again. Why could not he have told me this the first time itself, when he was not happy with my HOD’s sign?
Tip If you are going to take up residence abroad or study abroad, remember to strike the other inapplicable one through in your Declaration and Affidavit. No, I did not commit this mistake.
4. The Affidavit
Getting the Affidavit on Non-Judicial Stamp Paper is easier than you think it is, depending on how much you are willing to pay. No, it is not an illegal transaction, it is just the fee that notaries charge depending on their location in Delhi. So, a notary in South Delhi will charge more than one in East Delhi.
Thankfully, for DU students, it is pretty easy. There is a notary just a five minutes’ walk from the Vishwavidyalaya metro station Gate 2. You will identify the area by the building of Transport Authority that gives driving licenses. The locals call it ‘authority,’ so if you just ask ‘bhaiyya, authority kidhar hai’ you will pretty sure land at the right place. If you have your nose too high in the air to approach people, then you can see this map https://binged.it/2teqIsV, a short preview of which is shown below.
The best thing about this chap is he is really fast with his work, and gives Affidavits instantly. Faster than a passport photo, I might add.
But there are students who come from outside Delhi for this, and prefer getting as many documents in place as they can before they arrive in Delhi to optimize their time at DU. There are some documents like the Declaration that they can get finalized with signatures only in DU, but the Affidavit is not so many of them have their Affidavits sorted out before they touch Delhi.
5. Getting it together
In case you have not figured it out by now, it is a lengthy procedure.
If you are lucky i.e. your principal/HOD signs your Declaration on the same day as you submitted it (which is unlikely) and get your affidavit made easily (this depends where you are located, and if you used the facility I mentioned above), you will still need at least one day for each or two days in total minimum. After that, you need to scan it and upload them on the online application portal. Apps like CamScanner and Office Lens are good, but in case you do not have a smartphone or a good camera, there are plenty of shops on-campus who will do that for you for a nominal price.
If you are not exceptionally lucky, and are sent back to square one for baseless and pointless reasons like some of the one I faced, then it will take more than a week for sure. I took more than two.
Once you are done uploading the documents, you will be asked to crosscheck all information you have entered. If you have your HOD’s signs on your Declaration and have entered your College name, or vice-versa, you can delete the inapplicable now.
After this, you are required to pay ₹500 on the portal with any online payment method you prefer.
You then take a print out of the payment receipt and all the documents you had uploaded (marksheet, offer letter etc). You do not need to take a print of your Declaration and Affidavit because, in case you have not guessed it already, they are already in hard-copy and have to be submitted in original.
6. Presenting Your Application – I
Then comes another difficult part: taking all of it to Window 5 at North Campus Examination Branch and depositing it, as the procedure on the website stipulates. The person sitting at the desk may feign ignorance of the new procedure and might just brush you off by saying that you just have to wait out for two years for your degree. In such a case, which is quite likely to happen, insist that it is urgent or that you need to talk to a staff member ‘inside.’ If even that does not work, tell him you must see one Mr Bhagat Singh before you leave. You might be lucky if you are the only one in the queue and there is no one waiting behind you.
Other time-tested successful Indian excuses to persuade the counter-person include:
– I have a train/flight to catch.
– My grand/parents are unwell.
– My car just broke down.
Try these only if you have good acting skills and if you were scolded at least once by your parents for being a good liar. For a person like me, these would never have worked.
The counter-person will, if he is kind, under such circumstances, give you a gate-pass for the exam branch.
7. Presenting Your Application – II
Inside the Exam Branch building, in Room 204 (if my memory serves me right), sits a man in the Southern end of the room who goes by the name of Mr Bhagat Singh. He is the best filter the Degree department at University of Delhi can get. You will recognize him by the man in the pink shirt who sits with his hands on top of his head, plays Solitaire on his computer and keeps rocking in his swivel chair. He always rocks back-and-forth, never sideways. If you still cannot find him, ask around the other staff. No maps this time for you, genius.
He is tasked with the job of rejecting applications and preventing them from reaching the Exam Branch Degree Department, thereby obviously easing the latter’s workload.
The first time around, he rejected my application because I had filled my college in the online form while the Declaration was signed by my Principal. He coolly said that even if he forwards this application, it was certain to get rejected.
The second time, he declared the application infructuous because I had written names of both universities from which I held offers to (‘You will go to only one university, how can you write two?’).
The third time, he tried turning me back because the print of the email asking me to furnish my Degree to make my offer unconditional did not show my or the sender’s email address (‘C’mon, I have received it, so of course I have an email address!’) even as it mentioned their complete postal address. I wondered what his reply would have been had I received this communication via surface mail. He even tried turning me back because the documents were signed by me (self-attested), digitally before the print and not manually. So I also signed them manually. He was not satisfied still. On this occasion, I remember going to a xerox shop and patching out my digital signatures using ordinary white paper and printing them out, signing them manually and then going back to Mr Singh again.
By now, at least twenty days have passed since I started.
8. Fight!
You have to be a little bit stubborn, which unfortunately I was not. Abrasive people usually get by well compared to soft-spoken ones in every walk of life in North Indian society. This is no different. If there are other students with you when you meet Mr Singh, you will see he does it to everybody. Stand your ground. I know it is hard to argue with certain things he points out, but it is easy to see when he is slacking work. You can try telling him that you have already paid ₹500, which is a big amount for you.
Let me tell you that the DU website clearly mentions that just because you paid the ₹500 fee does not mean your application will be accepted. This is actually fair enough. Just because you paid the application fee of $75 for a university does not mean you will get an offer. Just because you paid the exam fee does not ensure good marks.
But what Mr Singh does is actually wrong, unethical if not illegal. He is ideally duty-bound to just accept the application and forward it to his seniors who will then take a decision on whether to give you a Degree in advance or not. But he has no business stopping you from submitting the application. Just like an invigilator is duty-bound to let you take the exam and give your answer script to the examiner. S/he cannot stop you from taking the exam in the first place, just because s/he knows you do not have adequate preparation.
So, if Mr Singh makes the argument that he cannot take your application because it will be rejected by his superiors, make it clear to him that you are well-aware that just because you paid the application fee does not mean your request will be approved and that you do not mind if it is rejected as long as it he just takes and forwards it.
Also, you can try pleading and tell him that if heavens are going to fall and what not… Do whatever you can to get him to take your application in his hands. I do not want to sound sexist, but I have noticed that girls are really good at doing this.
9. Enjoy the Fruits
Chances are, that once your application is through, it will be approved. Since their workload is so less, why should not they approve your request? You are supposed to collect your Degree from your college.
When I went after two months to check if Hindu College had received my Degree on Tuesday, 14 February 2017, some hilarious things happened. First of all, the entire university campus was decked in pink colour given the V-Day celebrations. The security staff manning the college gates did not allow me to enter, because of the love parade going on.
Once I was in the College, the sleepy office staff, surprised by the unannounced visit of an inconsequential student (not even a student, an ¬ex-student!), took out some bulky registers, and it turned out my degree had arrived on 6 February (although the staff had incorrectly written it is 6 February 2016)! Mine was the first Degree to pass their doors in the new year 2017. But it was not over yet. They turned over the entire department in finding a lone Degree that had entered their files just eight days back.
When they could not find it even after half-an-hour, I was shaking with part-anger and part-fear expecting them to coolly tell me that they have misplaced it and I can just file another application for a duplicate degree. Just then, they found my Degree. They had filed it in Chemistry, instead of History.
I thought of putting this story on my website because I had narrated it to a lot of people. One question that I was asked almost every time was if I paid a bribe to get my work done. No, I did not pay any bribe. I did not spend any more than ₹530 (500 for the online application + 30 for the affidavit) for this. The 500 was a legal online transaction.
But I spent the entire month of December 2016 and half of November 2016 for this.
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