Palak and Harjot were two of 169 children to gain a seat. Finding her son's name on the list, Harjot's mother immediately rang her husband: "We got in!"

Harjot already has an older sister studying at the school.

But for parents who failed to secure a seat, doubts and questions were rife. Circling the school's director, Colonel Ramesh Laddha, in much the same way as they did the board of lists, parents fired away: When is the second list out? Was parents' education a criterion? Why did my neighbour get a seat - she's exactly the same as me - but I didn't?

The school received 3224 applications, said Laddha. The maximum number of points scored by any applicant was 75. But with large numbers of applications tying on 45 and 55 points, the lottery system came into play.

"We can't satisfy every parent, but we have been transparent," he said. "A child who doesn't get admission... that's not my fault. Unfortunately the system is like this."

The school is one of the first to release its pre-school list. Gyan Bharati, Saket, and Bluebells School International also released their first list today. Shri Ram School, Vasant Vihar, will put up names of successful applicants on Thursday.