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The attention of Lady Hardinge(wife
of Lord Hardinge) was drawn to the lack of facilities
for imparting medical education to women in India.
There is no any separate medical institution for women
to train them as Doctors , with the result that only
89 female students in year 1984 were receiving medical
education , of whom 78 were Christians and 9 Perisian's
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all these women were studying in coeducation government
colleges in madras, Bombay, Calcutta and Lahore.
Lady Hardinge made firm determination and promised to raise
the sum of 15 lakhs of rupees with which to build at Delhi
Medical College and Hospital for woman and a training school
for nurses which similarly intended to meet the demand of
trained nurses.
Draft schemes for constitution of college and management
guidelines. Lady Hardinge medical school for women was drawn.
The college to be affiliated to one of the recognized University
for India for the purpose of MBBS degree.
It was also decide that subject to the general control of
the governors, the Lady Principal, with the assistance of
an advisory council of the Lady Professor and the Lady medical
Superintendent of hospital, to have full authority and responsibility
for all matters i.e., teaching, internal economy, residential
arrangements and discipline of the institution. This is
showing that medical school is to be built for ladies and
manage by ladies .
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His Excellency Lord Hardinge added a
new chapter to the history of Medical Education in
India when he formally inaugurated the opening of
this Medical College meant exclusively for women in
the area so called the "Imperial Delhi Enclave"
and with this, the hopes ;and aspirations of a great
Lady became reality.
Through these 90 years the college has risen in stature
and this grand old Lady status has stood like a guardian
angel watching generations of young women pass through
its portals as mature, confident and capable Professionals
comparing with the best in the world.
The college, Hospital & hostel for students and
residences for staff were built on an area of 60 acres
which lay between the old and new cities of Delhi.
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view of the Institution in a photograph published in 1918,
the college is seen surrounded by wild vegetation's &
shrubbery which extended over the area now known as Connaught
Place which is of course the main shopping complex and centre
of attraction, in the heart of Delhi. The lush green areas
within the campus, makes one forget the hustle and bustle
of city life outside which makes this complex a combination
of convenience and serenity-the ideal location-so near and
yet so far.
Dr. (Miss) Kate Platt was the first principal of the college.
The number of annual admission was confined only to 16.
The college was then affiliated to Punjab University. The
students had to go to take up their examination on successful
completion of their curriculum to King Edward Medical College,
Lahore. Ever since, this institution has made spectacular
strides in all directions. It was in the year 1950 that
the institution was affiliated to University of Delhi.
Initially, approximately 14-16 students were enrolled every
year from all over India. The annual report of 1918 mentions
only 34 students on roll. The number of admissions were
subsequently raised to 130 by 1970. In the beginning, the
college was affiliated to Punjab University and students
had to travel all the way to Lahore for their examination
to compete with students of King Edward College of Lahore.
Since 1950 it is affiliated to University of Delhi.
One of the latest additions to the complex is the magnificent
architectural marvel- the Swaran Jayanti Sabhaghar a modern
and well-equipped centrally air-conditioned auditorium with
a capacity of 987 seats which was inaugurated on 9th August,
1988 by Hon. Mr. Motilal Vohra, the then Cabinet Minister,
Min. Of Health & Family Welfare. This auditorium came
into existence by the untiring efforts of Dr. Mrs. Kasturi.
Aggarwal, the Principal at that time.
Among the other buildings in the complex is the new central
library building which came into existence simultaneously
with the auditorium and is a part and parcel of the auditorium
building. It has the dubious distinction of one of the oldest
medical libraries in India and has also a good collection
of number of old journals in the bio-medical sciences. The
Library has a collection of 50,000 volumes of Books, Journals
and the Library is centrally air-conditioned.
The College has two attached Hospitals Smt Sucheta Kriplani.
Hospital for Women and Kalawati Saran Children's Hospital.
Ever since the inception of the institution 6038 Undergraduates,and
1,049 have qualified for Postgraduate Degree's and Diploma
in various disciplines of Medicine, several of them occupy
position of pride in India and abroad. A few of them have
made laudable contributions in the fields of Medicine and
glory of the Lady Hardinge Medical College. We are proud
of them. The attached school of nursing is also completed
90 years into its platinum jubilee year in 1991. It was
inaugurated by her Excellency Lady . The Kalawati Saran
Children's Hospital, an institution attached to the Lady
Hardinge Medical College, was built in 1956 from the proceeds
of the properties donated by Shri. Raghubir Saran and his
brother Shri. Raghunanddan Saran of New Delhi. The Hospital
was named after Smt. Kalawati Saran, wife of the Late Shri
Raghubir Saran. The initial electrical and electronic equipment
was donated by Govt. of USSR, and the Dept. of Physical
Medicine was originally developed by Visiting Specialist
from the USSR. Lady Edwina Mountbatten formally opened this
Hospital on March 17,1956. The department of Microbiology
of Lady Hardinge Medical College is internationally acclaimed
for its salmonella phage typing, and it is a W.H.O collaborating
centre for reference and training in streptococcal diseases
for South East Asia. It is also a Surveillance Center for
AIDS. First ART center for children in the country was started
in January 2007. Lady Hardinge Medical College is rated
very high for post graduate training in obstetric gynaecology
as well as pediatrics. College is rated among the top 5
medical institutions in the country.
In the beginning a seven-year course of instruction was
provided- 2 years for the Intermediate Science Examination
and 5 years for the MBBS degree . The two years instruction
in science was stopped at the end of the 1937-38. This resulted
in the reduction of the course period from 7 years to 5
years and now to 4 ½ years since July 1964 with 1
year compulsory Internship.
The efforts have been made in the past and present to train
the students on male patients by posting them to General
Hospitals in their 3rd, 4th and final years in Irwin Hospital
Safdarjang Hospital, . Later Willingdon Hospital (Dr. R..M.L.Hospital
was integrated with the Lady Hardinge Medical College in
1965 for the purposes of academic facilities and the same
arrangement is continuing till date.
To start with only female Postgraduates were admitted. Since
1970 Male and Female postgraduates are enrolled. Lady Hardinge
had a record of having lady principals, that too a Hardonian.
But same legacy is not continuing in last decade.
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