Ramjas College

Founded on 17 January 1917 by the great educationist and philanthropist, Rai Kedar Nath, Ramjas College is the oldest college of Delhi University after Zakir Husain Delhi College, Hindu College and St. Stephen's College. Initially it was affiliated with university of Punjab, Lahore up to intermediate level. Beginning from the humble precincts of Darya Ganj in Old Delhi.^[4] The college was named in memory of Lala Ramjas, father of Rai Kedar Nath, the founder of the college.^[5] 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, it was upgraded to degree level and brought under the University. 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.^[6][7] 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, who was also a good friend of Rai Kedar Nath. But during World War II, the college had to cede its campus at Anand Parbat to the British Wireless Experimental Centre.^[8] 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.^[6]

 

The college relocated to its current location in 1950. Dr Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India inaugurated the present building on 17 January 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.^[8] On 12 February 1959, The famous black American leader Martin Luther King Jr. 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 countries.^[9]

Ramjas was celebrating its Centennial legacy from 2016 and completed its 100 years celebration in January 2017.^[10] In 2017 India Post issued a postage stamp to commemorate the Centenary Year of Ramjas college Delhi.^[11]

Ramjas College hosted the first edition of the Delhi University Literature Festival, officiated by the University of Delhi in its centenary year. Scheduled 17–19 March 2023, the exercise was led by Swapan Dasgupta as the festival director and Sanjeev Sanyal as the festival Patron.^[12] Several renowned figures such as Rajyavardhan Rathore, Gen. Manoj Naravane, Bibek Debroy, and others participated in this literary exercise.^[13]

The college offers 8 Bachelor of Arts courses, 8 Bachelor of Science courses and 2 Bachelor of Commerce courses at undergraduate level. Primary medium of instruction of courses is English. Further, it offers 18 postgraduate courses in sciences, humanities and commerce streams. Additionally, there are 26 add-on courses and 6 foreign language courses on offer.^[14]

Admissions for the college are now done strictly through CUET. The CUET cut-offs, for the arts and commerce courses are exceptionally high. Even before CUET, the cut-offs were among the highest in the country with the political science cut-off reaching 100 percent in the final year of admissions based on board exam marks.

In 2021, India Today ranked Ramjas College 7th among commerce colleges,^[15] 10th among arts colleges^[16] and 17th among science colleges in India.^[17]

The college's red coloured building is surrounded by trees and foliage which has earned it the title 'Rainforest'.^[5] 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.^[6]

The college also provides hostel facility with 80 seats for girls and 120 seats for boys which is in the college campus.^[18][19]

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 societies 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 Ramjas Fine Arts Society, Mélange is one of the oldest art societies in the University of Delhi. With its active social media presence and yearly newsletters, it strives to create an artistically and socially open space for students to express themselves freely through the expression of art. The dramatics society, Shunya is a reputed society which allows for free expression and exprssion of emotions through acting. Pinnacle, the placements society of Ramjas is also very active. Ramjas has one of the best Enactus in the country. Darshan, the philosophy society of Ramajas college has quickly grown to become one of the most famous and exclusive societies in the college through its frequent hosting of meaningful and thought-provoking discussions and seminars. Qnights, the quizzing society Illuminer Counsel(Ramjas chapter) and Ramjas literary society are also worthwhile mentions. Ramjas also has a very active NSS and NCC for both boys and girls.

Ramjas is also for its student journals among many other things, some of the famous one are the Ramjas political review, run by the political science department,the Ramjas economic review run by the department of economics and Anubhuti, the journal of the department of philosophy.

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.^[20] 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.^[21]

• Ajit Prakash Shah, Chief Justice of Delhi High Court^{[citation needed]}
• Sumit Antil, Gold medalist, Javelin Throw, Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, Paris 2024 Paralympic Games^{[citation needed]}
• Angaraag Mahanta, composer and singer^{[citation needed]}
• Partha Dasgupta, an Indian-British economist^{[citation needed]}
• Vivekanand Sinha, IPS and Inspector General of Police of Bastar^{[citation needed]}
• Ch. Sarup Singh, a former minister of Excise and Taxation, Development and Cooperation, Haryana; and a former Speaker of Haryana^{[citation needed]}
• Chaudhary Brahm Prakash, 1st Chief Minister of Delhi^{[citation needed]}
• Kahlil Joseph, American Actor^{[citation needed]}
• Manish Jha, Film director^{[citation needed]}
• Manoj Bajpai, Actor^[22]
• Nivedita Tiwari, TV Actress^{[citation needed]}
• Pathik Vats, Dialogue writer & lyricist^{[citation needed]}
• Prakash Jha, Film Director^{[citation needed]}
• Pratap Keshari Deb, Member of Rajya Sabha^[23]
• Praveen Kumar, Indian cricketer^{[citation needed]}
• Pravesh Rana, Bigg Boss finalist and Model^[24]
• Rahul Roy, Actor & Documentary filmmaker^{[citation needed]}
• Raj Kumar Gupta, Film director^{[citation needed]}
• Sanjay Kumar, Director CSDS^[25]
• Ranbir Singh Hooda, Activist^{[citation needed]}
• Swarup Singh, Governor of Gujarat and Governor of Kerala^[26]
• Shekhar Suman, Actor & Presenter^[27]
• Rishab Prasanna, notable Flute player
• Somnath Bharti, former Minister of Law and Justice of Delhi^{[citation needed]}
• Vikas Bahl, Film director & producer^{[citation needed]}
• Vijender Gupta, Leader of Opposition, Delhi^{[citation needed]}
• Yogesh Kumar Sabharwal, 36th Chief Justice of India^{[citation needed]}
• Vipin Patwa, Music composer & singer^{[citation needed]}
• Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta, IPS Officer, DGP of Assam^{[citation needed]}
• Sanket Goel, Dean and Professor, BITS Pilani^{[citation needed]}
• Shivam Pradhan, Actor^{[citation needed]}
• Ashok Saikia, IAS officer and joint secretary in PMO for prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
• Sudhanva Deshpande, notable actor and playwright

• Official website