Indore : Thus far, college students needed to tell their caste but from now onwards they would have to disclose their religion as well at the time of enrolment.
With Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD) seeking information on religion of students for its All India Survey for Higher Education (AISHE), Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya (DAVV) has made it mandatory for students to mention their religion in enrolment forms.
“We have got religion column added in our online enrolment form,” registrar RD Musalgaonkar said.
The university has also got a new option added in gender column of the enrolment form. The option is “third gender.”
It may be noted that on April 15, the Supreme Court in a landmark judgment created the “third gender” status for transgenders. Earlier, they were forced to write male or female against their gender.
Following the judgment, the University Grants Commission has notified that it would include transgender as a “third gender” under its various scholarships/fellowships schemes. “As the SC has recognised transgenders or third gender, every institution has to follow the suit,” Musalgaonkar said.
The UGC has also included Jain community as minority community in addition to the five communities already notified as minority community i.e. Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Zoroastrian (Parsi).
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