Rs 2 crore gift from college seniors

Ex-students of SRCC have donated a large amount for renovation

Rs 2 crore gift from college seniors

Ex-students of SRCC have donated a large amount for renovation

On Monday, when the students of Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University, sit to write their examinations, they will do so in a centrally air-conditioned room, a first in the University. And they can thank their college seniors for this cool gift.

The college alumni have donated whopping Rs 2-crore for renovation and the classrooms now sport a fresh sheen with modern lighting, projectors and new blackboards. The money has also funded laptops for teachers and has fixed the vintage college clock that was not working since 1967.

Supported by BJP leader and college alumnus Arun Jaitley, Jain went on a fund-raising drive, reaching out to rich alumni for donations in October 2007. The college approached alumni like Atul Punj, chairman of Punj Lloyd Ltd and a Commerce graduate of the class of 1979, Rajiv Memani, CEO & country managing partner, Ernst & Young, Pramod Bhasin, president and CEO of Genpact, Anshu Jain, an Economics graduate of the 1983 batch tipped to be the next chief executive of Deutsche Bank AG and media personality Rajat Sharma.

"I approached the alumni and asked if they were willing to donate Rs 6 lakh each for up gradation of classrooms and they agreed. We have already completed the renovation," Jain said.

Kanupriya, a 2002-05 batch BCom (H) student from the college said, "I wish these facilities were available to us too. Studying in a room equipped with air-conditioning keeps you fresh even after five hour of classes."

SRCC is the first college in the University of Delhi to upgrade its classrooms to facilitate teaching through modern gadgets.u00a0 For this purpose, each classroom is being equipped with a LCD projector and air-conditioning.

The college receives a government grant of Rs 5 crore every year and undergraduates pay a tuition fee of roughly Rs 5,000 a year. Most of this is used to pay salaries, including those of non-teaching staff.

From June onwards, the college will begin work on renovating the faculty rooms and the library.

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