Ramniranjan Anandilal Podar College of Commerce and Economics
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Ramniranjan Anandilal Podar College of Commerce and Economics, popularly known as Podar College, is an educational institution next to the Ramnarain Ruia College in the central part of Mumbai, between the Dadar and Matunga railway stations.
The College was built in 1941 in neo-Gothic style, with a clock tower (in which there is now also a siren), and was handed over by Seth Ramdeoji Anandilal Podar to the Shikshan Prasarak Mandali in 1941; it was named in memory of his brother, Ramniranjan Anandilal Podar. The first B.Com. degree course started in 1942. The College became affiliated with Bombay University in 1950. The college now offers courses in commerce for undergraduate degrees, and for postgraduate degrees and postgraduate diplomas through the Wellingkar Institute of Management and Commerce. The college has been awarded an A+ rating by the NAAC.
Podar College participates in inter-collegiate competitions, and has won a lot of awards. Its students call themselves "Podarites".
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[edit] History
R.A. Podar College of commerce & Economics, Matunga, is one of the prestigious Institutions run by the Shikshan Prasarak Mandali, Pune. It enjoys the position of being one of the finest Commerce Colleges in the city of Bombay. It was the first non-government commerce college to be started in the city with a munificent donation from the House of Podars.
In January 1941, the University of Bombay granted temporary approval to the college, to accommodate 150 students. In February 1941 a contract was signed between the S.P. Mandali and the House of Podars by way of which the Podar family generously agreed to donate a sum of one-lakh fifty thousand rupees. All these preliminary efforts resulted in the birth of R.A. Podar College on 20th June 1941. The College first started with 150 students on rolls, three classrooms, a skeleton but scholarly staff and a small office at the adjoining sister institution, Ruia College. On 17th August 1950, the college was granted permanent affiliation by the University of Bombay.
The main building with the famed clock tower was erected in 1941-1942. In the years that followed the college building underwent enormous structural changes. The number of class rooms increased. The main hall and the library appeared in 1947-1948. The students and the staff joined hands in the establishment of a canteen in 1955. From 1949 Podar College has the rare distinction of providing some of its staff (both teaching and administrative) with quarters and students with Hostel facilities.
Student response and participation in academic and other activities and their performance at examinations are an important yardstick in measuring the success of an educational institution. Podarities have excelled in academics. At the B. Com. Examination not less than 150 students used to secure a first class every year; the results have become spectacular in the past ten years as is revealed under the Head of Academic Performance.
En - number of Chartered Accountants, businessmen, educationists, industrialists, bankers, Export-import consultants, Tax Consultants, Members of Legislative Council and Assembly, Stage artists, Sportsmen and Women, Social workers etc. in India and abroad today owe their allegiance to their alma mater viz. the Podar College.
Indeed all this imparts a feeling of joy and pride and puts on us the additional responsibility to continue even more vigorously to uphold the traditions and to remain in the forefront always.
In the arena of sports and games at the National and International levels, Podarities have given an exceedingly good account of themselves. Many of them have distinguished place in their respective areas of specialization and has become household names throughout India and even abroad; to name a few - Shri. Farokh Engineer, Shri G.R. Sundharam, Shri Ravi Shastri, Shri Dilip Vengsarkar, Shri Sanjay Manjrekar, Shri Alan Sippy, Shri Sairaj Bahutule, Shri Jatin Paranjape and many more in Cricket. Shri Kamlesh Mehta, Shri Vilas Menon, Miss Yoman Shah in Table Tennis, Miss. Janaki Krishnamoorthy - under - 19 Women All India Tennis Champion. Shri Ravindra Patil (Chief Judo Coach of India), Shri Mehrwan Daruwala and Parth Doshi for Squash etc. not less than a dozen students have been honoured with Chatrapti Award - Besides these individual awards our teams have won trophies in almost every field one time or the other.
Podar College has been carrying out this task with missionary zeal. It has been one of the pioneers in conceiving the idea of rural camps for bridging the gap between rural poor and urbanities. Camps are held in various adivasi villages under the auspices of the College National Social Service Unit. (NSS) Even after completing their college career inspired NSS Volunteers continue their selfless service under the banner of 'SANKALP' and 'NIRMITI YOUTH FOUNDATION'. The College volunteers work for the villages of Baranpur, near Palghar and Chandip and Shivansai, near Vajreshwari. The NCC Unit of our College endorses the phrase 'Small is beautiful'. A small unit but an excellent one as was envisaged by Principal L.N. Welingkar and nurtured by Prof. Chandgadkar.
[edit] Infrastructure
The Campus area is 27,000 square feet (2500 square meter) and the built up area is 54,594 square feet (5055 square meters). The building has three wings and each wing has ground plus three floor. Every floor of the right and left wings has a very broad corridor of breadth 8 feet and running the whole length of the floor.
It has a large Auditorium for the students built in an ancient gothic style.The hall has a seating capacity of 500. The auditorium sports a semi circular stage for performing arts. The stage is flanked by two green rooms.
The college has a large Conference room which was a recent addition.
The Institution has a Central Computer Laboratory with 50 Computer and latest Software, Printing and Internet facility.An Audio Visual Room attached to the library.
The College library, which was housed in a small room, has grown into a very spacious one. It occupies the entire rear wing of the second floor, and has the entire third floor as the Reading Hall. The library has a rich collection of more than 60,000 carefully selected reference books, magazines and journals. In addition to the usual lending facilities, the library offers the facility of a book bank. The latest facilities added are a Copier Centre equipped with a Xerox Machine and Electronic Stencil Cutter.
A College Gymkhana with various kinds of sports materials and other equipments
[edit] Courses offered
- B.Com. (from Junior College to the degree)
- M.Com.
- BMS. (Bachelors in Management Studies)
[edit] Vocational Courses offered
Two vocational courses are offered as an integral part of B.Com They are: 1) Computer Applications 2) Travel and Tourism Management These courses have their practical components, project-work and 'On-the-job' Training Programme.
[edit] Cultural Activities / Non Academic Clubs
Student's Council: The apex body is constituted as per the Maharashtra University Act, 1994. It is one of the most important body in the college.The head of this body is called the General Secretary who represents the entire student body.He is incharge of organising major College events such as Rapport and other cultural activities.This is one of the most imporatnt recognistion a student gets in his colleges last year and main face of the whole student body.
Artist's Guild & Youth Festival: The Artist's Guild promotes performing arts through several inter-collegiate talent competitions and cultural programmes. The Youth Festival is an inter-collegiate cultural competition. Podar college has the unique distinction of having won the Youth Festival Trophy 16 times since inception.It has been awarded the BEST COLLEGE AWARD by University of Mumbai. Several Podarites have won individual laurels and embarked upon fruitful careers in the performing areas.
Other Clubs: 1) National Service Scheme Unit (NSS) 2) National Cadet Corps (NCC) 3) Literary Circles viz.GLC,MLC,HLC 4) Hobby Circle 5) Hikers Club 6) Gymkhana Committee 7) Speakers Academy 8) Group Discussion Cell
[edit] Principals
- Prof (Mrs) Sita Ramanan (current I/C principal-2006)
- Mrs R V Upadhye
- K. C. Kuriala
- R. R. Sahuraja
- P. N. Phutane
- P. J. Joshi
- G. P. Palekar
- L. N. Welingkar
- V. Y. Kolhatkar
- N. G. Naralkar
[edit] Alumni
The College has been fortunate, right from its inception in having a highly qualified, efficient and dedicated teaching fraternity. Many teachers have attained high distinctions in academic, sports and social fields. They have proved themselves to be fit instruments in moulding the personalities and careers of their students, always motivating the students in the pursuit or excellence and inspiring them with lofty ideals of social and national awareness.
- Farokh Engineer, cricketer
- Rohan Gavaskar, cricketer
- Gurudas Kamat, politician
- Sanjay Manjrekar, cricketer
- Ravi Shastri, cricketer
- Shilpa Shetty, actress
- Dilip Vengsarkar, cricketer
- Astad Daboo, contemporary dancer
- R C Lahoti, chief justice of India
[edit] Students Council & General Secretaries
In the past, Podar College boasted of a very vibrant Students' Union. The foundation of this Union was based on both direct and indirect elections. It was a forum where students learnt practical lessons in democracy. It nurtured leadership qualities and organizational abilities. However with the enactment of the Maharashtra University Act, the formation of this body has undergone a change. It is no longer a Students' Union but has been recast into a Student's Council. It is a mixed body of selected and then elected representatives to give a balanced representation to academics and other extra-curricular activities. It is one of the most important body in the college.The head of this body is called the General Secretary who represents the entire student body.The past 5 General Secretaries:
- Yashraj Akashi-2006/07(Current)
- Robin Shah - 2005/06
- Dhara B - 2004/05
- Rohan Deokar - 2003/04
- Sameer Kamath - 2002/03
