Established in 1875, Government Mohindra College Patiala, Punjab, India is the oldest institution of contemporary higher learning in Northern India. Mohindra College was the first institution in Punjab to receive A++ grade from the

National Assessment and Accreditation Council The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) is a government organisation in India that assesses and accredits Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). It is an autonomous body funded by the University Grants Commission and headquarte ...

of the

Government of India The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

. It has been ranked as number one college in India by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council in 2016 with highest CGPA of 3.86 which is highest in college section in India. The college offers undergraduate and graduate level education in

basic sciences Basic research, also called pure research or fundamental research, is a type of scientific research with the aim of improving scientific theories for better understanding and prediction of natural or other phenomena. In contrast, applied researc ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

languages Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment ( public governance), management of non-profit es ...

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, natio ...

computer applications A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These progr ...

, law, agriculture science,

biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used ...

, and clinical diagnostics.

Faculties

*Faculty of Arts: 22 departments

Campus

The Mohindra College campus is outside the

Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak'' (the 'Fortunate Castle') construct ...

walled city opposite the

National Institute of Sports Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports, commonly known as National Institute of Sports (NIS), is the Academic Wing of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Asia's largest Sports Institute located in city of Patiala. History Founded on 7 ...

, Patiala. The college facilities include the Central Library, the Computer Center, the Health Center, the girls hostel, an auditorium with a seating capacity of 600, a botanical garden and elaborate sports infrastructure, particularly for

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

and

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

History

Then

Viceroy of India The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 19 ...

Lord Northbrook Baron Northbrook, of Stratton in the County of Southampton, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1866 for the Liberal politician and former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Francis Baring, 3rd Baronet. The holder ...

laid the foundation stone for the main building of the college in 1875. It was named after Maharaja Mahendra Singh of Patiala, (also spelled as Mohindar Singh) when he died suddenly in 1876. Mohindra College was initially affiliated to the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a public collegiate state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered one of best state research university all over India every yea ...

; at the time,

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

was the capital of

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

. In 1882 the

University of Punjab The University of the Punjab (Urdu, pnb, ), also referred to as Punjab University, is a public, research, coeducational higher education institution located in Lahore, Pakistan. Punjab University is the oldest public university in Pakistan. ...

was established in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th List of largest cities, most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is th ...

, and Mohindra College became one of its first affiliated colleges. Following the

partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: India and Pakistan. T ...

in 1947, the college came under purview of the Punjab University, Chandigarh and, in 1962, under the

Punjabi University Punjabi University is a collegiate state public university located in Patiala, Punjab, India. It was established on 30 April 1962 and is only the second university in the world to be named after a language, after Hebrew University of Israel. ...

of Patiala.

Principals

# Shri Joginder Nath Mukerjee 1881 to 1886 # Shri Dwarka Das 1886 to 1888 # Shri Atul Krishna Ghosh 1888 to 1906 # Shri E. Candler 1906 to 1915 (a novelist and travel writer) # Shri T.L. Vaswani 1915 to 1919 # Shri Manmohan 1919 to 1921 # Shri A.K. Sharma 1921 to 1927 # Shri Vishwa Nath 1927 to 1927 # Shri B.N. Khosla 1927 to 1945 # Shri H.K. Bhattacharya 1945 to 1949 # Shri Teja Singh 1949 to 1952 (an eminent scholar and writer) # Dr. Hardit Singh Dhillon 1952 to 1953 # Shri A.R. Khanna 1953 to 1957 # Shri K.L. Malhotra 1957 to 1958 # Dr. G.L. Bakhshi 1958 to 1962 # Shri M.L. Khosla 1962 to 1967 # Dr. Bhagat Singh 1967 to 1972 # Shri Gursewak Singh 1972 to 1976 (great sportsperson and educationist) # Shri Umrao Singh 1976 to 1977 # Shri Harbakhsh Singh 1980 to 1982 # Dr. Jogindar Singh 1982 to 1987 # Dr. Gian Singh Mann 1987 to 1988 # Dr. Ujagar Singh Banga 1988 to 1989 # Shri Sarvjit Singh Gill 1989 to 1989 # Shri Parkash Singh 1991 to 1991 # Shri Mukhtiar Singh 1992 to 1996 # Shri Parminder Singh Sidhu 1996 to 1996 June # Dr. S.K. Sarad 1996 to 1997 September # Shri M.M. Singh 2000 to 2000 May # Shri Sarwan Singh Chohan 2000 to 2000 October # Dr. Vidwan Singh Soni 2000 to 2001 October (an eminent physicist, prehistorian & a popular science writer) # Dr. Raj Kumar Sharma 2001 to 2005 April # Dr. Daljit Inder Singh Brar May 2005 to July 2009 # Dr. Sudeep Bhangoo 12 August 2009 to February 2011 # Dr. Roopa Saini March 2011 to November 2012 (World cup gold medalist and Arjuna Award winner) # Dr. Sukhbir Singh Thind November 2012 to July 2017 # Dr. Sangeeta Handa July 2017 to June 2019 # Smt. Harpal Kaur June 2019 to October 2019 # Dr. Simrat Kaur October 2019 till present Shri Atul Krishna Ghosh was the longest serving Principal and instrumental in most of the early development works of this college. He was MA, Esq in English and was Professor of English with high credential. To make way for his British successor E Candler who was a journalist basically and was based in Bengal then and also his life was in danger from revolutionaries, Sri Ghosh was transferred to Muir College, Allahabad. He spent his last phase of his life in Allahabad in the company of Sri Motilal Nehru and Sri Madan Mohan Malaviya silently working for the freedom movement of India. The matter regarding his super-cession in Mohindra College, Patiala by Candler was even raised in British Parliament then, the transcript of which is preserved in British Library archive. He wrote several books and commentaries but because of later days association with the freedom movement, Britishers underplayed, suppressed and destroyed his records of achievements. He was great educationist and in those days appointed from Indian Education Service. ("Shri" is a term used in India as a title of respect.)

Funding

Mohindra College is funded by the Punjab Government and the

University Grants Commission (India) University Grants Commission (UGC) is a statutory body set up by the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Government of India in accordance to the UGC Act 1956 and is charged with coordination, determination and maintenanc ...

while the campus is maintained by the Public Works Department of the State Government. The college offers financial assistance to the economically disadvantaged sections of society. Undergraduate tuition is exempt for girls. Women represent over half of the 200 member faculty while about a third of the faculty holds doctoral and post-doctoral credentials.

Trivia

A commemorative postage stamp on Mohindra College,

was issued by the

on 14 March 1988. Principal from 1910 to 1914, Edmund Candler was also a noted novelist and travel writer. His novels ''Siri Ram: Revolutionist'' and ''Abdication'' are set partly in a college in the fictional town of Gandeshwar, which is probably based on Mohindra College.

External links

Mohindra College webpage on Patialavi.com

* ttp://www.indianpost.com/viewstamp.php/Currency/Paisa/Alpha/M/MOHINDRA%20COLLEGE Stamp on Mohindra College, Patiala
Android App of Mohindra College, Patiala
{{coord missing, Punjab (India) Universities and colleges in Punjab, India Education in Patiala