DU Admissions 2019: Yoga no longer part of sports quota, put under ECA

Yoga, which was part of the sports quota list in the Delhi University till last year, will now be a category under the Extra Curricular Activities (ECA). There were 12 sports that were excluded from the list of games under which students could seek admission in the sports quota. These include archery (Indian round), ball badminton, baseball (women), softball (men), korfball (male), 4x100m relay race, cross-country running, cycling, fencing, power-lifting, best physique and yoga.

The varsity Thursday said yoga has been excluded from the sports list and added as an activity, while 27 sports under the sports quota that are part of the Olympics, World Championship, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, Asian Championship and Paralympics have been included.  Officials said the varsity was always questioned about yoga being included in the sports quota. They also said they had received guidelines about inclusion of games for sports quota in June 2018 from the HRD Ministry and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

After deliberations in various committees, it was decided that 24 sports that are part of various high-profile competitions and three popular sports will make it to the list of games for the sports quota, the officials said.  They said the varsity was not part of the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy, under which top performing universities in sports are awarded, since they were not following the guidelines and hence were not getting any support.

The officials said there were some sports like fencing, where only two entries were received last year. There are 27 sports listed for admission under two categories -- direct admission category and admission on the basis of sports trial.

Sportspersons, who have represented India in competitions, recognised and funded by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, will be given direct admission without sports trial. These include Olympic Games, World Championship, Commonwealth Games, etc. In the second category, aspirants will be awarded maximum 40 marks on the basis of sports certificates and 60 marks for sports trials. They can upload best of three certificates, the officials said. The online registration process for admission to the varsity commenced on Thursday.