GLIMPSES OF HISTORY
The history of the
University has, in one way or another, been linked with
the history of the city of Delhi over the last century and
a quarter. The announcement by George V during the Delhi
Darbar of 1911 that Delhi was once again to be the capital
of India contained within it the seeds for the formation
of the University.
Although
the University was established only in 1922, some of its
colleges are much older. The oldest college is Zakir
Hussain College. It was originally a m adrasa founded
during the reign of the Emperor Aurangzeb which had been
closed down in the aftermath of the Ghadar of 1857. It
reopened as the Anglo-Arabic School in 1872, closed down
again as a result of the Partition riots, restarted as the
Delhi College and finally got its present name in 1975.
Because of its chequered history, it played no role in the
setting up of the University. The colleges which did play
a founding role were: St. Stephen's College established in
1881 having started life as a school founded almost 30
years earlier by the C ambridge Mission, Hindu College
which was founded by some leading citizens of Delhi in
1899, and Ramjas College which was established in 1917 on
a site in Anand Parbat. Two other colleges which predated
the University but which were affiliated to it only after
its foundation were the Tibbia College for Unani Medicine
established in 1881 and the Lady Hardinge Medical College
which had been established in 1916 to commemorate the
visit of Queen Mary.
In 1922,
the government of the day in consultation with the
representatives of St. Stephen's, Hindu and Ramjas decided
to establish a unitary, teaching and residential
University by an Act of the then Central Legislative
Assembly. The Faculties of Arts and Science and, later,
the Faculty of Law, were established. The Indraprastha
College for Women was set up in 1927 and six years later
the then Viceregal Lodge and its Estate was handed over to
the University to establish its Campus. To this day it
houses the office of the Vice Chancellor, is the hub of
the University and is known as the North Campus.
During
the long tenure from 1938 to 1950 of Sir Maurice Gwyer as
Vice Chancellor, the University slowly acquired its
present shape. Existing colleges moved to the campus,
teacher's residences came up in what came to be called
Maurice Nagar and, Miranda House - a college for women,
named after Sir
Maurice's daughter, was established. The Delhi University
Act was amended to provide three-year Honours courses,
postgraduate departments were set up, and the University
Library came into being, temporarily located in the
Ballroom of the Viceregal Lodge. The Faculty of Social
Sciences was established, as were the Delhi School of
Economics, the Vallabhabhai Patel Chest Institute and the
Delhi School of Social Work. There was a rapid rise in the
population of the city as a result of the partition of the
country and new colleges came up around the refugee
colonies of Delhi. The University also began acquiring its
all-India character as Delhi grew to fill its role as the
capital of India.
The
foundations of the full-grown University were laid during
the 1950's. Many colleges shifted to the Campus, many new
colleges (including evening colleges) were started, halls
of residence were established and the University attracted
some of the best minds in the country to its faculty and
its student body. Management education was started at the
Delhi School of Economics, the Department of African
Studies was established at the personal initiative of
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, a Health Centre was set up by the
World University Service, the Institute of Economic Growth
was founded by Professor VKRV Rao, and the Central Library
building was inaugurated by Dr S Radhakrishnan.
Between
1960 and 1970 the student population grew from 17,000 to
82,000 -the growth occurring mainly at the undergraduate
level. New colleges continued to be established and a
number of colleges for women came up - Gargi, Janaki Devi,
Kamala Nehru, Lakshmi Bai, and Maitreyi, postgraduate
evening classes were started, and a Faculty of Music and
Fine Arts was established. The School of Correspondence
Courses started with BA (Pass), and a full-time MBA
programme was initiated in the Department of Business
Management.
The 1970s saw the transfer of teaching of science honours
courses from University departments to selected colleges,
the establishment of the University College of Medical
Sciences and of the Faculty of Management. The College of
Vocational Studies was started and the College of Art was
affiliated to the University. Delhi College, the oldest
college in Delhi was renamed the Zakir Hussain College,
the Central Institute of Education was merged with the
University and the Delhi School of Social Work became a
University department. These were golden times as some of
the leading scientists, social scientists and economists
of the country were either students or teachers of the
University during this period.
The 1980s saw the affiliation of the Sherbutse College in
Bhutan with the University, and the growth of the South
Campus with its emphasis on interdisciplinary studies and
on Life Sciences. The Women's Studies and Development
Centre was established, as was the Centre for Professional
Development in Higher Education. A College of Applied
Sciences for Women was started and the University
continued to finely balance the often-conflicting demands
of providing quality education to an increasing number of
students.
During
the 1990s ten new colleges were established with full
funding provided by the Delhi Administration. These
included professional colleges and colleges for women. New
student hostels were built, and three separate Institutes
for Nursing, Physiotherapy and for Rehabilitation Studies
were accorded recognition by the University. A number of
new courses were started including BSc (Honours) in
Computer Science and a Batchelor in Computer Applications.
New departments were established and a number of existing
departments were recognized either as Centers of Advanced
Study or received special assistance from the UGC.
The period since 2000 has been one of academic
renaissance, consolidation and the addition of new
infrastructure facilities in the University. The first
major restructuring, and not mere revision of syllabi, of
all undergraduate programmes since their inception many
decades ago, has been accomplished. A system of internal
assessment for all undergraduate and postgraduate
programmes has been put in place. Provisions have been
made
for the institution of short-term courses in colleges. A
vigorous programme of appointing new faculty against
available posts, some lying vacant over long periods, has
been pursued. The process of establishing a well-equipped
Biotechnology Park has been initiated at the South Campus.
A Campus of Open Learning has been established for
distance education. Steps have been initiated for setting
up a new School of Design within the University framework.
A series of Millennium Public Lectures by internationally
renowned academics has been started, a number of leading
filmmakers, artists, critics have been invited as Visiting
Fellows of the University. Administrative training
programs for college Principals have been organized with
the help of DM, Ahmedabad. The Yamuna and Aravalli
Biodiversity Parks have been set up with the help of the
DDA.
A campus-wide computer network linking all University
departments, offices, campus colleges and hostels on both
the north and south campuses has been set up and is
currently being extended to off-campus colleges through
wireless. This network in conjunction with the UGC Infonet
program has meant better access to many leading
international research journals for students and faculty
in different fields. The computerization of processes in
the Examination Branch and the Campus of Open Learning has
begun, as has the e-enabling of the admission of students
in the reserved categories, of students with disabilities
and of a centralized admissions process for all students.
Many new
facilities have been created, like a state-of-the art C
conference Centre, an International Guest House, a
University Centre for students and a Utilities Complex.
Separate new buildings to house Mathematical Sciences,
Social Sciences and multidisciplinary University Centres,
have been built. Extensive renovations have been carried
out of the Viceregal Lodge, the Arts Faculty building, the
Gwyer Hall, the Central Institute of Education, the old
Physics and Chemistry blocks, St Stephen's College and
Indraprastha College. In the process the old Ballroom of
the Viceregal Lodge has been converted into a magnificent
Convention Hall.
A Teacher
Transit H ostel has been started, a number of new Hostels,
particularly for women, have been constructed, extensions
have been built to the Geology building and the
Administrative block, the University Guest House has been
renovated and the Shankar Lai Hall has undergone extensive
restructuring. Landscaped plazas and pedestrian precincts
have been created and the University parks and gardens
have been given a face-lift. These facilities will
continue to serve the needs of the University community
for years to come. All this has become possible through
generous financial support by the Delhi Urban Heritage
Foundation for the renovation of the Viceregal Lodge, the
Government of Delhi for the restoration of the other old
and heritage buildings of the University and its colleges,
and the Ministry of Communications and Information
Technology and the University Grants C ommission for the
campus-wide computer network.
The University of Delhi continues its quest into the new
millennium — to encourage excellence in scholarship and
research and inculcate in its students responsible
citizenship so that they grow to embody the ideals of a
caring, tolerant and plural society.
Growth of Student Enrolment
Year Undergraduate Postgraduate
|
Year |
Undergraduate |
Post-Graduate |
|
1922 |
750 |
- |
|
1930 |
1,050 |
189 |
|
1940 |
2,942 |
209 |
|
1950 |
4,767 |
1,596 |
|
1960 |
13,257 |
3,810 |
|
1970 |
74,732 |
7,098 |
|
1980 |
81,766 |
12,408 |
|
1990 |
1,60,433 |
17,740 |
|
2000 |
2,57,812 |
23,655 |
|
2003 |
2,98,026 |
21,823 |
Growth in the number of degrees awarded
|
Course |
1980 |
1990 |
2000 |
2003 |
|
PhD/DM/MCh |
190 |
226 |
145 |
354 |
|
MPhil |
348 |
411 |
171 |
280 |
|
PG |
2,885 |
2,941 |
4,032 |
4,563 |
|
UG |
26,566 |
26,997 |
43,914 |
59,950 |
|
PG- Professional |
1,226 |
1,387 |
1,301 |
1,539 |
|
UG- Professional |
1,318 |
1,505 |
1,732 |
2,220 |
Total
32,533
33,467
51,295 68,906
Vice Chancellors
|
Year |
Vice Chancellor |
|
1922-1926 |
Hari Singh Caur |
|
1926-1930 |
Moti Sagar |
|
1930-1934 |
Abdur Re h man |
|
1934-1938 |
Ram Kishore |
|
1938-1950 |
Maurice Cwyer |
|
1950-1953 |
SNSen |
|
1953-1957 |
GS Mahajani |
|
1957-1960 |
VKRV Rao |
|
1960-1961 |
NK Sidhanta |
|
1962-1967 |
CD Deshmukh |
|
1967-1969 |
BN Canguli |
|
1969-1970 |
KN Raj |
|
1971-1974 |
Sarup Singh |
|
1974-1979 |
RC Mehrotra |
|
1980-1985 |
Curbaksh Singh |
|
1985-1990 |
Moonis Raza |
|
1990-1994 |
Upendra Baxi |
|
1995-2000 |
VR Mehta |
|
2000-2005 |
Deepak Nayyar |
Pro Vice Chancellors
|
Year |
Pro Vice Chancellor |
|
1962-1967 |
BN Canguli |
|
1967-1969 |
RC Majumdar |
|
1969-1970 |
Sarup Singh |
|
1971-1975 |
VP Dutt |
|
1975-1980 |
UN Singh |
|
1980-1985 |
PC Mukherjee |
|
1985-1986 |
AN Kaul |
|
1986-1990 |
KD Cangrade |
|
1990-1995 |
AL Nagar |
|
1995-2000 |
Abad Ahmad |
|
2000-2005 |
CR Babu |