Ramjas College is a college of the

University of Delhi Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and is recognized as an Institute of Eminence (IoE) ...

located in North Campus of the university in

New Delhi, India New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

.The college admits both undergraduates and post-graduates, and awards degrees under the purview of the University of Delhi. Ramjas College is one of the best colleges in the country. It is one of the founding colleges of University of Delhi, along with

Hindu College Hindu College may refers to several colleges around the world, including: India *Dharmamurthi Rao Bhahadur Calavala Cunnan Chetty's Hindu College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu * Gobardanga Hindu College, West Bengal * Gokul Das Hindu Girls College, Moradab ...

and St. Stephen's College. It is a co-educational college that admits students and select teachers from all communities irrespective of gender, caste, religion and physical challenges. The college is situated in the north campus of university of Delhi.

History

Founded on 14 May 1917 by the great educationist and philanthropist, Rai Kedar Nath, Ramjas College is oldest college of Delhi after Hindu College and Stephen College. Initially it was affiliated with university of Punjab, Lahore up to intermediate level. Beginning from the humble precincts of

Darya Ganj Daryaganj (literally "A market near a river") is a neighbourhood of Delhi inside the walled city of Shahjahanabad (Old Delhi). The "darya" (lit. "River") refers to the river Yamuna which was just outside the walled city. Daryaganj is one of the ...

Old Delhi Old Delhi or Purani Dilli is an area in the Central Delhi district of Delhi, India. It was founded as a walled city named Shahjahanabad in 1648, when Shah Jahan (the Mughal emperor at the time) decided to shift the Mughal capital from Agra. Th ...

. The college was named in memory of Lala Ramjas, father of Rai Kedar Nath, the founder of the college. In its starting days, the college was run by the Ramjas Foundation - an educational foundation that runs schools and educational institutions in Delhi. When

was formed in 1922, it was upgraded to degree level and brought under the

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

. Ramjas College has since been a humble part of that University. After formation of DU, the college was brought under government control but Ramjas Foundation kept looking over the administrative works of the college. In 1924, Its other branch named Ramjas intermediate college was opened at Daryaganj and old college was moved to a new campus at Anand Parbat (which was then called Kala Pahad) near the serai Rohilla Station about two miles from heart of city. The college was then inaugurated at its new location by

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

, who was also a good friend of Rai Kedar Nath. But during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the college had to cede its campus at Anand Parbat to the British

Wireless Experimental Centre The Wireless Experimental Centre (WEC) was one of two overseas outposts of Station X, Bletchley Park, the British signals analysis centre during World War II. The other outpost was the Far East Combined Bureau. Codebreakers Wilfred Noyce and Mauric ...

. In the same period, at time of

Quit India Movement The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule in ...

, 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. The college relocated to its current location in 1950.

Dr Rajendra Prasad Rajendra Prasad (3 December 1884 – 28 February 1963) was an Indian politician, lawyer, Indian independence activist, journalist & scholar who served as the first president of Republic of India from 1950 to 1962. He joined the Indian Nationa ...

, the first

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu ...

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 Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served a ...

, the architect of

Constitution of India The Constitution of India (IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ri ...

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. On 12 February 1959, The famous black American leader

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

visited the college and made a memorable speech to the students. Now almost equal in number, there were only two females out of 161 students in 1942–43 session. In January 2004, the College organised the first-ever Conference of Graduate Students of Economics from the

SAARC The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of states in South Asia. Its member states are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, ...

countries. Ramjas was celebrating its Centennial legacy from 2016 and completed its 100 years celebration in January 2017. In 2017 India Post issued a postage stamp to commemorate the Centenary Year of Ramjas college Delhi.

Academics

Academic programmes

The college offers 8

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

courses, 8

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

courses and 2

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa, Myanmar, ...

courses at undergraduate level. Primary medium of instruction of courses is English. Further, it offers 18 postgraduate courses in

sciences Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

and

commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...

streams. Additionally, there are 26 add-on courses and 6 foreign language courses on offer.

Rankings

In 2021,

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new onl ...

ranked Ramjas College 7th among commerce colleges, 10th among arts colleges and 17th among science colleges in India.

Campus

The college's red coloured building is surrounded by trees and foliage which has earned it the title 'Rainforest'. A Seminar Room and a Conference Hall form the nucleus of all the academic conferences, events and proceedings of the college. It has volleyball, basketball, football and table tennis facilities. It also has its own shooting range and an archery range within the campus. It also has a gymnasium with modern equipment.

Hostel

The college also provides hostel facility with 80 seats for girls and 120 seats for boys which is in the college campus.

Student societies

The college is also known for its students' involvement in student politics. The DUSU (Delhi University Students' Union) has been known to have major contributions from Ramjas College, the most important being the victory of alumnus Akshit Dahiya as the DUSU President (2019–20) with a margin of 19,069 votes and him also being the youngest DUSU President in a very long time, aged 20 when elected. The Ramjas Debating Society is one of the best debating society in India having made some of the best contributions to the Indian Debating Circuit.Members of the Society have qualified at multiple International tournaments such as Oxford, Harvard , LSE and WUDC. The college offers a wide range of courses, extra-curricular activities and technologically advanced facilities accessible to the faculty, the students and the support staff. There are specific zones formed by the authorities of Ramjas College to emphasize on various aspects. 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.

Notable alumni

The alumni of Ramjas College are called Ramjasites. Notable alumni include: *

Ajit Prakash Shah Ajit Prakash Shah (born 13 February 1948 at Solapur) is the former Chairman of the 20th Law Commission of India. He was the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court from May 2008 till his retirement in February 2010. Justice Shah did his graduation fr ...

, Chief Justice of

Delhi High Court The High Court of Delhi (IAST: ''dillī uchcha nyāyālaya'') was established on 31 October 1966, through the ''Delhi High Court Act, 1966'', with four judges, Chief Justice K. S. Hegde, Justice I. D. Dua, Justice H. R. Khanna and Justice S. ...

* Sumit Antil, Gold medalist, Javelin Throw,

Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the Inter ...

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, composer and singer *

Partha Dasgupta Sir Partha Sarathi Dasgupta (born on 17 November 1942), is an Indian-British economist who is the Frank Ramsey Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom and Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge. Personal ...

, an

Indian-British British Indians are citizens of the United Kingdom (UK) whose ancestral roots are from India. This includes people born in the UK who are of Indian origin as well as Indians who have migrated to the UK. Today, Indians comprise about 1.4 mil ...

economist * Vivekanand Sinha, IPS and

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of Bastar. * Ch. Sarup Singh , a former minister of Excise and Taxation, Development and Cooperation, Haryana; and a former Speaker of Haryana *

Chaudhary Brahm Prakash Chaudhary Brahm Prakash Yadav (1918–1993) was an Indian politician, the first Chief Minister of Delhi, also Called as sher-e-delhi, and a freedom fighter who played an important role in the individual Satyagraha Movement launched by Mahatma ...

, 1st

Chief Minister of Delhi The chief minister of the National Capital Territory of Delhi is the head of government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. According to the Constitution of India, the lieutenant governor is the National Capital Territory of Delhi's ''de ...

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, American Actor *

Manish Jha Manish Jha is an Indian film writer and director. known for film like ''Matrubhoomi.'' Early life and education Born in Dhamaura, in West Champaran district of Bihar, Jha grew up in Delhi where he had moved at an early age. He did his graduatio ...

Film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

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, Actor *

Nivedita Tiwari Nivedita Tiwari is an Indian actress best known for her role as Runjhun in Zee TV's ''Bhagonwali - Baante Apni Taqdeer'' and Supriya on &TV's '' Gangaa''. Early life Nivedita was born and raised in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. She completed her ...

, TV Actress * Pathik Vats, Dialogue writer & lyricist *

Prakash Jha Prakash Jha (born 27 February 1952) is an Indian film producer, actor, director and screenwriter, mostly known for his political and socio-political films such as “Hip Hip Hurray” (1984), ''Damul'' (1984), ''Mrityudand'' (1997), ''Gangaaja ...

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Pratap Keshari Deb Pratap Keshari Deb (birth: 16 October 1972) is an Indian politician from the state of Odisha. In May 2017, he won a bypoll to the Rajya Sabha seat from Odisha constituency which was vacated by Bishnu Charan Das when he was appointed chairman of ...

, Member of

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

Praveen Kumar Praveen Kumar (, born 2 October 1986) is a former Indian cricketer who bowled right-hand medium-pace. In first-class cricket, he played for Uttar Pradesh cricket team. He relied on his ability to swing the ball both ways along with line and l ...

, Indian cricketer *

Pravesh Rana Pravesh Rana (born 26 February 1983) is an Indian actor, television host and model. He has walked the ramp for various top designers and also won the title of Mr. India in 2008. He was a participant in the reality television show ''Bigg Boss'' ...

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finalist and

Model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the Plan_(drawing), plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a mea ...

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* Sanjay Kumar, Director

CSDS The Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) is an Indian research institute for the social sciences and humanities. It was founded in 1963 by Rajni Kothari and is largely funded by the Indian Council of Social Science Research Govt ...

Ranbir Singh Hooda Ranbir Singh Hooda (26 November 1914 - 1 February 2009) was an Indian politician from Haryana. He was a member of the Indian National Congress. He served as a minister in undivided Punjab and then in the Haryana government. His 100th birth ann ...

, Activist * Sarup Singh,

Governor of Gujarat The governor of Gujarat Is a nominal head and representative of the president of india In the state of Gujarat. The governor is appointed by the president for a term of five years and resides in Raj Bhavan (Gujarat), Raj Bhavan in Gandhinagar. ...

and

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, former Minister of Law and Justice of

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

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, Film director & producer * Vijender Gupta, Leader of Opposition, Delhi *

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, 36th

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, Music composer & singer *

Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta (Assamese: ভাস্কৰ জ্যোতি মহন্ত) is a 1988 batch (41RR) IPS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre. He is the current Director General of Assam Police, and had previously served as the special D ...

, IPS Officer, DGP of

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

* Shivam Pradhan, Actor * Sumit Antil,Paralympic Gold Medalist & World record Javelin Champion

References

External links

* {{authority control Delhi University Universities and colleges in Delhi Educational institutions established in 1917 Commerce colleges in India 1917 establishments in India