Dyal Singh Evening College gets morning status

Dyal Singh Evening College has finally earned the status of a morning college; however, the process was not free of its own share of controversy.

The working committee of Delhi University, in its meeting, cleared the proposal in this regard under the chairmanship of vice-chancellor Yogesh Tyagi.

However, working committee member and DU joint secretary Rajesh Jaga alleged that the signatures of the Dyal Singh Morning College prinicipal Dr I Bakshi on the proposal papers to grant 'morning college status to Dyal Singh Evening College' are fake and should be investigated.

Jaga said he had also raised the issue in the meeting, but it was rejected.

The principal of the Evening College Dr Pawan Kumar Sharma has called the allegations "baseless", saying that Dr Bakshi had signed the papers in the presence of himself and the president of the Steering Committee and, therefore, no probe was required.

The decision of the Steering Committee is usually final and the principal's signature are not legally necessary.

Amitabh Sinha, the president of the Evening College's Steering termed the controversy "utterly sad" and in the disinterest of the varsity.

"Such issues should not crop up in the interest of the future of the students and the institution because they are waste and meaningless," said Sinha.

Dr Bakshi's point of view, however, could not be had as he was away.

Sinha said that after a prolonged fight of many years, the college has been able to achieve the status of morning college.

The college used to initially run its classes at Mandir Marg, where employed people used to study in the evening hours.

Gradually, the college saw rush of regular students too and the demand for morning classes grew.

It is believed that the with the flow of outstation students increasing in the University every year, the need for more morning colleges is necessary now more than ever.

In the case of Dyal Singh Evening College, students' interests was given prominence.

Sinha also pointed out that a particular section was continuously against the proposal but the "battle" was won within eight months.

Dyal Singh College, is curretnly ranked among the top ten morning colleges of the country and its evening college also aim to enter the list of top ten evening colleges.

Dr Sharma said that the evening college, as of now, will hold classes in the 'morning College Bhawan', but its own construction of a four floor building is underway. It may also be extended to 10 floors.

Established in Lahore in Pakistan in 1910, and then shifted to Haryana before ending up in Delhi, Dyal Singh College started its evening college in 1958

Mostly of its students were employed and pursued their courses after work. This would be the third evening college of the University to be upgraded to a 'morning college'. Soon, the classes in the evening college will also be held in the morning.