P.G.D.A.V College B.A Review By Yukti Punj

Established in 1957, Pannalal Girdharlal Dayanand Anglo-Vedic College (PGDAV College) is one of the oldest resident colleges of the University of Delhi. Located in Lajpat Nagar, Delhi, PGDAV is famous for its education policies, facilities and location. The institute provides both undergraduate and post-graduate courses through classes scheduled during the morning and evening. It has one of the most renowned faculty with Dr Mukesh Kumar Aggarwal as the principal.

To get admission in PGDAV, like in any other college of Delhi University can be done through registration on the Delhi University online admissions portal only. There is no other option or way to get admission and the candidates who have applied can further be short-listed based upon the cut-off list that the college releases for each course. Once shortlisted, the student is required to visit the college for document verification and admission process.

I was part of BA Economics (H) course for 2012 batch. A full-time three-year undergraduate degree course, the syllabus is in accordance and alignment with other Delhi University colleges. During the period of 6 semesters and approximately 5 subjects per semester, one gets to go through a rollercoaster of huge syllabus and topics. The curriculum is little tough and difficult. For certain subjects, a little extra help is required for which students further enroll themselves in coaching institutes.

I had joined this course because of the recognition it gets in the market and the growth it gives to your career. My degree has helped me a lot in getting the right job and profile that I wished for in one of the most reputed companies.

The Department of Economics consists of 5 lecturers who are one of the most knowledgeable, well-experienced, and intelligent professors I ever came across. They are highly qualified and experienced teachers most of whom have either completed their PhD or are in process of completion. Few of the lecturers are alumni of Delhi University itself.

Special doubt classes were also conducted in college where teachers provide great assistance in helping students through difficult topics. Always ready and available to help, they all were very courteous. Some teachers even share their personal number, and one could easily reach out to them even at odd hour, in case of doubts especially during the exam times.

The placement cell of the college is very hardworking and provides sufficient number of job opportunities with many companies visiting the campus each year. Some of the top companies who have recruited from the college include EY, Deloitte, Bajaj Capital, Aon Hewitt, Wipro, RBS, and FIS Global amongst others. The packages offered by these companies went as high as INR 12 Lacs per annum with average package offered for INR 4.5 Lacs.

The entire interview process is conducted within the college with placement cell giving fair and equal chance to everybody to appear for the interview. For courses like, Hindi (H) and Sanskrit (H), the opportunities are less though and a lot of improvement can be made to help the students of these students finding the right direction and chances.

PGDAV has no hostel facility for its students. For students coming from outside Delhi or relocating can look for cheap PGs and flats across Lajpat Nagar that are easily available within the budget and walking distance from the college.

The infrastructure of the college has gone under drastic change over the years. When I was a student there, a new metro line (Vinobapuri Metro station) was being constructed just outside the college which made travelling a lot cheaper and easier. Also, the building was getting renovated and new buildings were being constructed within the campus thus making it even more spacious and nice. One must appreciate the library of the college that has numerous books and reading material available with enough space for students to go and quietly spend their time to study. It is kept clean and tidy with all books arranged properly. Students can easily get the books issued and return them if required. There is not a lot of greenery even though the college has a huge playground.

The washrooms, at least the girl’s washrooms are very poorly managed and kept. They are always dirty and stinky even thought there is one helping staff present throughout the day. In terms of classrooms, they are non-air conditioned and so are the libraries. Chairs and tables for the students are old and rusty but manageable. There is no Wi-Fi for students and only one computer lab that to just for computer science undergraduates. Also, the water cooler provided by the college needs to be maintained and cleaned regularly.

Overall, for the college I would just like to say that PGDAV has a very pleasant campus with good facilities and education being provided. The campus hosts students from other colleges for various fests that are held within the college where different celebrities are invited to perform along with other entertainment activities organized by multiple committees. In three years of my college life, I experienced no discrimination on the campus in terms of my religion, region, or economic status or did I see any of my fellow mates to go through any such condition. There are a lot of discrepancies in terms of gender ratio of students across different courses and departments. My seniors in the college were very helpful and supportive.

A lot of different drives and activities are organized through-out the year like Cleaning the campus, Plantation Drive, AAGHAZ (an initiative by students to protect the environment), ECOLIBRIUM (a fest organized by Economics Department Society of PGDAV College wherein a lot of competitions, seminars, talks etc. are conducted to keep students updated with economic developments and give them real world exposure); and KORAKAGAZ (a driver conducted to save paper and recycle waste paper).

The college is located at prime location, Lajpat Nagar that gives students enough social life to have and enough. There are huge markets and malls and movie theatres within the radius of 2-3 kms along with food joints and vendors just at a walking a distance. Nehru Nagar is one such market with is 3 mins walking from college and offers amazing food joints and hawkers at a price as low as INR 10.