New Delhi, Jun 22 (IANS): As the race for admission into Delhi University (DU) gets tougher, some colleges have relaxed the cutoff for girls, according to the additional eligibility criteria for admissions posted on the varsity website Saturday.

DU colleges, including Bhim Rao Ambedkar, Dyal Singh, Deen Dayal Upadhaya, Rajdhani and Swami Shraddhanand are offering a relaxation of three percent to the female candidates applying to various four-year undergraduate programmes.

"We have noticed that over the years the percentage of girls who take admission is not even 50 percent of the total intake. Hence the effort is purely to promote girls' education," I.S. Bakshi, principal of Dyal Singh College, told IANS.

There are also colleges like Dyal Singh (evening) and Shivaji that provide relaxation of five percent to girls.

"As per the Primary Census Abstract 2011, only one out of 10 women is engaged in an economically productive activity as against five out of 10 men in Delhi. So, there is a dire need to get more girls into colleges," said Sashi Nijhawan, principal of Shivaji College.

DU has introduced the four-year undergraduate programme starting this academic year under which the students will be required to study 11 foundational courses in the first two years, clubbing together students who seek vocational education with those pursuing pure academic disciplines.