Indraprastha College for Women, Delhi
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In brief
CITY: New Delhi
Indraprastha College for Women is the oldest women's college in Delhi and is affiliated to the University of Delhi. It offers graduate and post-graduate courses in Liberal Arts, Commerce, Literature, Computer Science and Mass Communication among other fields.
History
A brief history
Meghna Dhulia, April 9, 2025: The Times of India
New Delhi : A century ago, in the lanes of Chandni Chowk, a vision was born — one that would shape generations of women. The story of Delhi University’s Indraprastha College for Women, from humble beginnings in 1904 to becoming one of the most sought-after institutions in the capital, is interwoven with the very fabric of India's history, empowering women and contributing to the nation’s progress.
“It started in 1904 from a school called Indraprastha Hindu Kanya Vidyalaya in Chippiwara, Chandni Chowk,” said Poonam Kumria, the college principal. “The college was founded with a vision of empowering women, to provide them a platform to study and contribute to society.” Established as a school, the institution soon recognised the need to provide higher education for girls. In 1924, with the approval of Delhi University, the Indraprastha College for Women officially came into being. “We received approval for opening the college from the University of Delhi on April 9, 1924, and that is why this date is so close to our hearts,” said Kumria.
Kumria shared how she had met a woman around 75 years old who said her friend’s mother had studied in the college during its early years. “Back then, when girls had to travel from their homes, mostly in old Delhi, to attend classes, the buses they took were equipped with iron bars on the windows for their safety. This symbolises how determined these women were to pursue education.”
The college initially operated from a haveli in old Delhi, then briefly moved to Chandrawali Bhavan in Civil Lines before relocating to its final abode, Alipore House, in 1938.
Originally the residence and office of the commander in-chief of the British Indian Army, the colonial-style building now echoes with the footsteps of thousands of students.
With a swimming pool added in 1956, Indraprastha College became the only women’s college in Delhi to offer such facilities. The college continued to evolve, adding tennis courts, basketball courts, yoga spaces and other facilities that would support the holistic development of its students. “The college started with three students and is now home to 4,300 students,” said Kumria.
The college’s rich history, however, was something that largely remained unrecorded. It wasn’t until Kumria joined two years ago that efforts were made to unearth the hidden narratives of the college’s past. A group of 100 students from the college under the principal’s mentorship has worked to fill the historical gaps.
“We started digging into the archives, searching through national and university records. What we discovered was fascinating,” the principal said. “For example, we only recently found out that the founding day of the college was May 27, not the earlier dates we assumed. We found the date in an archived British newspaper. There is a museum for archival material on the campus to showcase the legacy.” The college offers a diverse undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Notably, it is the only college in DU to offer a BA honours course in multimedia and mass communication, with cutting-edge infrastructure to support the course. “We have a fully equipped studio, editing bays and radio production centres, all facilitating hands-on training in the latest technology,” said assistant professor Tanushree Sharma.
Moreover, with memorandums of understanding with national and international organisations, online Hindi classes for NRI children in London and a revived Charkha society, the college continues to innovate.
The success of the institution can also be seen in the countless women it has nurtured. Distinguished alumnae like politician Sucheta Kriplani, diplomat Chitra Narayanan, musician Sharan Rani Backliwal, academics Sunita Jain and Nirmala Jain, singer Jaspinder Narula and actor Neetu Chandra have left a lasting impression.
Today, as the college celebrates its centenary, the sense of pride and achievement is palpable. “We will be celebrating with an event called Sam anvay, where we honour the achievements of our students and alumni,” revealed Kumria. The event will be held in a hybrid format to allow participation from alumnae worldwide.
Students are excited to be part of the legacy. “When I joined, I researched the college and was so excited when I got admission here,” said Nishtha, a second-year student. Another student, Ridhisha Anand, said, “This is my dream college and I waited for the seventh cutoff to gain entry.”
Vignettes
The Times of India, Aug 25 2015
Shreya Roychowdhury
College archive to share tales of women's movement
In 1942, the second principal Kalavati Gupta wrote a slightly desperate-sounding letter to parents of women attending Indraprastha College for Women. She asks parents to “advise“ their daughter ward “to attend the classes or, if that is unfortunately not possible, withdraw her from the college“. The college had come close to shutting in 1930 due to student participation in the nationalist movement; by September, 1942, IP College students were “picketing,“ prompting Gupta to write to their folks. Dozens of documents, records, letters and photographs--including this gem--have been put together and will be preserved at the soon-to-be-inaugurated Museum and Archives Learning Resource Centre at IP College.
The inception and growth of Delhi's oldest women's college--IP grew from the Indraprastha Hindu Kanya Shikshalaya (itself established in 1904)--tells the story also of women's higher education in the centre, says principal Babli Moitra Saraf.It will be of help to all researchers and academics interested in “the early days of women's higher education“--when, adds Saraf, “the dilemma was marriage or matriculation“--and women's movements.
Gupta's letter, Annie Besant's to the college society's chairman encouraging him to accept government grant, other correspondence and documents relating to the Theosophical Society, min utes of meetings and newspaper clippings are all part of the archives' collection. Till the early 2000s, the documents were in the care of Narain Prasad, the college GB's present chairman and grandson of Lala Jugal Kishore who, with other Theosophists had established the Indraprastha school.
One lot informed a book on the college's history, Women, Education and Politics: The Women's Movement and Delhi's Indraprastha College.Prasad donated the rest later.The full set--records from 1904 to 2006--is now housed in the archive above the library .
There are photographs of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad at the college and another of women digging.“In the 1950s, the women demanded a swimming pool,“ explains Saraf. As funds were limited, the women dug the pit for the pool themselves as shramdaan.
