Ramjas College
Coordinates: 28°41′8.6640″N 77°12′22.9788″E / 28.685740000°N 77.206383000°E
Motto | Sanskrit: "ज्ञानात् परतर न हि" |
---|---|
Motto in English | "Knowledge has no Comparison" |
Established | 1917 |
Founder | Rai Kedar Nath[1] |
Principal | Dr. Rajendra Prasad |
Location | University Enclave, New Delhi, India |
Campus | Urban |
Affiliations | University of Delhi |
Website |
ramjascollege |
Ramjas College is a constituent college of the University of Delhi located in North Campus of the University in New Delhi, India. It is one of first three colleges established under DU. It is also one of the premier institutes in the country. The college is at the top list of students preference for higher education in University of Delhi. The college admits both undergraduates and post-graduates, and awards degrees under the purview of the University of Delhi. Famous for its rich history and many traditions, Ramjas is widely renowned as one of the most famous higher educational institutions in India offering degrees in the liberal arts, the sciences as well as commerce.[2]
History
Founded in 1917 by the great educationist and philanthropist, Rai Kedar Nath, Ramjas College is one of the oldest colleges of Delhi. Beginning from the humble precincts of Darya Ganj in Old Delhi.[3] The College was named in memory of Lala Ramjas, father of Rai Kedar Nath, the founder of the college.[4] In its starting days, the college was run by the Ramjas Foundation - an educational foundation that runs schools and educational institutions in Delhi. When University of Delhi was formed in 1922, there were three colleges to be first established and brought under the University, Ramjas College, Hindu College and St. Stephen's College. Ramjas College has since been a humble part of the University. After formation of DU, the college was brought under government control but Ramjas Foundation kept looking over the administrative works of the college.[5][6]
In 1924, the college moved to a new campus at Anand Parbat (which was then called Kala Pahad) in Delhi. The college was then inaugurated at its new location by Mahatma Gandhi, who was also a good friend of Rai Kedar Nath. But during World War II, the college had to ceed its campus at Anand Parbat to Allied forces.[7] In the same period, at time of Quit India Movement, a group of Ramjas students went ahead and joined the freedom struggle which resulted in them being arrested and jailed. A plaque with their names inscribed on it has been put up near the college auditorium gate in memory of the brave students.[5]
The college relocated to its current location in 1950. Dr Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India inaugurated the present building on January 17, 1951. He even sent his daughters to study here. After the death of Rai Kedarnath, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, the architect of Constitution of India and first Minister of Law and Justice of India, acted as the Chairman of Governing Body of Ramjas College, the only College in Delhi that had the honour of having him in its Governing Body.[7]
Present form
Today, Ramjas is among the top institutions in India. The college has steadily climbed all India rankings. For 2015, the college was ranked in Top 20 Colleges in Science,[8] Humanities[9] and Commerce[10] in terms of factual ranking on an all India level.
The college has an esteemed faculty of scholars trained at leading universities in India and abroad. It is one of the founding colleges of University of Delhi, along with Hindu College and St. Stephen's College. It is a co-educational institution of higher learning located in University Enclave on the University of Delhi's North Campus. The college admits students and select teachers from all communities irrespective of gender, caste, religion and physical challenges to make a rich and varied community. It also admits students from overseas. The institution believes in holistic education that goes beyond achieving academic excellence, and vocational training. The philosophy is to realize the overall intellectual, creative, cultural and socio-political growth and development of both the students and the college community in its entirety.[11]
In January 2004, the College organised the first ever Conference of Graduate Students of Economics from the SAARC countries.[12]
Campus
Ramjas College boasts of a spacious campus. The college's red coloured building is surrounded by huge green trees. Adding to its old world charm is also soothing greenery and foliage in college which has earned it title 'Rainforest'. It is also open to people with disabilities.[4] The college has modern facilities backed by the latest in technology, making it an excellent institute for learning and research. Classrooms with whiteboards are backed by individual projectors. All the department rooms are up-to-date with technology. The college has an air-conditioner auditorium that has hosted renowned performers from all over India. A state-of-the-art Seminar Room and an exceptionally charming Conference Hall with advanced multimedia facilities form the nucleus of all the academic conferences, events and proceedings of the college. The college has an entire building dedicated to its octagonal, chandelier-lit cafeteria which serves delicious food. It also has two sports fields with a cricket, basketball, tennis & a football court and a state-of-art gym.[5]
Hostel
The college also provides hostel facility with 80 seats for girls & 120 seats for boys.[13][14]
Library
There are over 100,000 titles in the library, and are all bar-coded. Books are issued matching bar coded student ID Cards and titles of their choice. Availability of titles can be checked on computers available in the library.[15]
Student societies
Ramjas College also focuses on co-curricular activities. There are specific zones formed by the authorities of Ramjas College to emphasize on various aspects.[15] The woman development cell, student information and management system support services, clubs, gender forum, student counsellor, student activity centre and various societies of Ramjas College encourage students to participate in different areas other than academics.[11]
There are three types of students' societies namely ECAC Societies, NSS Societies & Academic Societies.[15]
The college also has a Students' Union whose President and Members are elected by the students. The Union takes care of demands and interests of the students and also organizes the college events.[16]
Alumni
Students and alumni of the college are termed Ramjasite. (While the term Ramjasian has also often been used by outsiders, it is technically incorrect in terms of language formation rules).
Notable alumni
- Ajit Prakash Shah, Chief Justice of Delhi High Court
- Angaraag Mahanta, Composer & Singer
- Ashok Saikia, Additional Secretary of the Prime Minister of India [17]
- Chaudhary Brahm Prakash, 1st Chief Minister of Delhi
- Kahlil Joseph, American Actor
- Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Actor
- Manish Jha, Film director
- Manoj Bajpai, Actor [18]
- Mushirul Hasan, Historian & Author
- Nivedita Tiwari, TV Actress
- Pathik Vats, Dialogue Writer & Lyricist
- Prakash Jha, Film director[11]
- Praveen Kumar, Documentary filmmaker
- Pravesh Rana, Bigg Boss finalist and Model[19]
- Rahul Roy, Actor & Documentary filmmaker
- Raj Kumar Gupta, Film director
- Ranbir Singh Hooda, Activist
- Sarup Singh, Governor of Gujarat and Governor of Kerala[20]
- Shekhar Suman, Actor & Presenter[21]
- Somnath Bharti, former Minister of Law and Justice of Delhi
- Vikas Bahl, Film director & Film producer
- V.P. Swahaney, Indian Administrative Service Officer
- Yogesh Kumar Sabharwal, 36th Chief Justice of India
Courses
The college offers 18 undergraduate and 18 postgraduate courses in Sciences, Humanities and Commerce streams. Additionally, there are 26 add-on courses and 6 foreign language courses on offer.[22]
References
- ↑ "ramjascollege.edu".
- ↑ "heyevent.com".
- ↑ "du.ac.in".
- 1 2 "Telegraph India".
- 1 2 3 "University Express".
- ↑ "du.ac.in".
- 1 2 "thecampusconnect.com".
- ↑ "India Today".
- ↑ "India Today".
- ↑ "India Today".
- 1 2 3 "learnhub.com".
- ↑ "eduage".
- ↑ "Daily Bhaskar".
- ↑ "dukhabar".
- 1 2 3 "dubeat.com".
- ↑ "The Hindu".
- ↑ "Outlook India".
- ↑ "koimoi.com".
- ↑ "The Times of India".
- ↑ "Tribune India".
- ↑ "letsintern".
- ↑ "minglebox.com".