Located at a short distance from Shahdra metro station, Shyam Lal College is a prominent landmark of the Trans-Yamuna area. From a college where the students once had the reputation of being somewhat unruly, the institution is gradually improving its standards of academics and infrastructure.
Inclusion of female students in college politics, too, has played a significant role in changing the social environment of the college for good.
Both the president and the vice-president in the current academic year (2010-11), are girls. Says Neha Vashistha, president, and a final-year student of BSc (physical sciences), “When I was young, I used to hear a lot about fights in this college, but things have changed over time. In the last three years, I haven’t seen any major ruckus happening on campus. This peaceful environment encourages girls to apply in large numbers.”
Infrastructural sprucing up means the canteen has been air-conditioned, and a new block, which will have eight classrooms made of eco-friendly bamboo with an auditorium, will be added.
Vashishtha tells us that most of the students come from east Delhi, with the rest coming from other parts of the Capital, as well as from across the country.
However, therein lies the problem. “The lectures are not translated into English because most of the students have Hindi as their medium of study and the teachers usually do what the majority wants. There are barely 10-15 students from the northeastern states in the entire college (the total number of students is more than 2,000). Another issue is the canteen. Though it is air-conditioned, they only serve typical north Indian cuisine. They should try to serve noodles or momos too,” says a final-year student, who is from the northeast.
Famous for:
This is the only Delhi University college which runs a postgraduate diploma in cosmetology.
Programmes:
BA, BA honours in economics/ English/ Hindi/ history/ political science/ BCom/ BCom honours/ BSc physical sciences/ BSc physical sciences (electronics) and postgraduate diploma in cosmetology
Extra-curricular:
A college fest, Lehar (waves), is held in February every year.
Infrastructure:
The college has laboratories for physics, chemistry, electronics and computer science. Plans are on the anvil to build a new block which will have a library and an auditorium.
Found on campus:
“Before I joined the college, I was a little apprehensive because it was considered unsafe for girls, but three years later, I can say that this is far from the truth. I have had a very good experience here. We were not even ragged,” says Nidhi Sharma, a final year student of BSc (physical sciences).
factfile
Shyam Lal College was set up in 1964 by Shyam Lal Gupta, chairman of the Shyam Lal Charitable trust. He was also the founder chairman of S Chand group of companies.
wishlist
“Infrastructure should improve. Renovation work is going on in the library because of which we haven’t used it for the last one year. The work should get over soon,” says a final year student