Anglo-Sanskrit Victoria Jubilee Sr. Secondary School, Darya Ganj, Delhi (Estd.1869)
- History of its Foundation
The A. S. V. J. Sr. Sec. School Darya Ganj, Delhi-110002 occupies a place of pride in the history of modern education in Delhi as the second earliest modern educational institution in the city and is a source of inspiration for a couple of great schools and colleges here. Delhi was the centre of the first revolt and first war of Indian Independence in1857. As it was the first war of independence and a symbol of the resilience of Indians against British East India Company’s exploitative rule, it also brought distress for its citizens and ruptured Delhi’s economic, social and educational life. There was only one school prior to this and that was Anglo-Arabic School but it received a severe jolt due to the revolt and had little or no existence from the time of the ‘Revolt’ to at least till1920s. In this critical phase, a host of Delhi’s prominent businessmen and philanthropists like Lala Rommi Mal, Rai Saheb Chunna Mal, Rai Bahadur Lala Sheo Pershad, lala Ram Krishan Das, Rai Bahadur Lala Ishwari Prasad, Rai Bahadur Dharma Sudhakar Krishan Das ji Gurwala and Lala Wazir Singh met at one time or the other and decided to fulfill this need by establishing a modern school for the children of Delhi and surrounding regions with Sanskrit as one of the main subjects to keep the students rooted in their culture. The value of education was recognized by them as the most powerful weapon to make the Indians understand the nature of British administration, acquire the ability to have a sense of business, preserve traditional knowledge as well as modern western knowledge and serve the country better. The schools and colleges established by the countrymen in Calcutta, Bombay, Madras/ Chennai, Agra, Roorki, Lahore and other Indian cities must have made the Delhi visionary businessmen and philanthropists realize that there is not a single school for their children in Delhi post-1857 and thus came in to being the great Anglo-Sanskrit Vidyalaya on Vasant Panchami day in Feb 1869 in a building donated by a rich businessman and banker to the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar, Lala Chunna Mal, at Katra Neel in Chandani Chowk with 62 boys and 3 teachers. Lala Ramjas Rai was appointed as its first Headmaster. The rest is history as within a span of 50 years or so we see the springing up of a number of colleges and schools in Delhi which made it a hub of education and which shaped the destiny of modern India. The name Anglo-Sanskrit Vidyalaya was later changed to Anglo-Sanskrit Victoria Jubilee Sr. Sec. School, Daryaganj. This School’s donors and famous alumni became instrumental in establishing great educational institutions like Hindu College (1899), at Kinari bazaar Chandni Chowk by Rai Bahadur Krishan Das ji Gurwala (also one of the figures attached with ASVJ School), Pt. Deen Dayal Sharma, R.B. Amba Persad and a few others; Indraprastha Kanya Shikshalaya in 1904 (by an alumnus of A.S.V.J. School Lala Jugal Kishore) which later grew to be the first women’s college in Delhi in 1924- Indraprastha College; Commercial School at Daryaganj in 1920 out of which emerged the famous Shriram College of Commerce in 1926 (by a great alumnus of ASVJ School Lala Sir Shriram; Ramjas School Daryaganj was established in 1912 in memory of ASVJ’s first Headmaster Lala Ramjas Rai, by his illustrious son judge Rai Kedarnath Ji, which grew to be the third oldest college of Delhi University in 1917. Thus, we see that the great alumni of ASVJ School, along with many others, played a tremendous role in shaping the educational landscape of Delhi and making it the educational capital of India of our times.
2. Some Most famous alumni:
Although this is not possible to give a list of all famous alumni and illustrious pass outs of this 156-year old historical School but the names of some most outstanding alumni inspire confidence to do good in life and follow them. This famous school has the privilege of producing some of the most illustrious men who played great roles in various fields of life in pre- and post-independence India. Munshi Suraj Narayan ‘Mehr’- a well-known Urdu poet and author from the first batch in about 1887; Lala Jugal Kishore of 1889 batch and famous founder of Indraprastha Kanya Vidyalaya in 1904 and the Indraprastha College for Women in 1924; Lala Sir Shriram of 1900 batch who rose to be a famous industrialist and founder of Commercial School, Daryaganj (1920), Shriram College of Commerce (1926) and LSR College for Women in 1956; Rai Bahadur Lala Amba Persad ji who not only donated Rs.80000.00 in 1916, a huge amount at that time, for the construction of the main building at the present site but who also helped start the famous Hindu College of Delhi in 1899 along with its founder R.B. Lala Krishan Das ji Gurwala, Padma Vibhushan Mr. K.B. Lal, ICS (1938) former Defence Secretary, Govt of India, Dr AK Walia, Physician and former health minister of Delhi, Dr Harshavardhan, a Pro-poor Physician and former Union Minister, Dr. Mahesh Chand Sharma, Physician, M.P and former Union Minister for Culture, Govt of India, Sh. JP Agrawal, former MP, Rai, famous Urdu poet Afzal Peshawari, Dr KK Agrawal, Physician and world famous cardiologist, Dr RP Gupta of Shanti Mukund Hospital, Delhi, Sh. Anil Bhandari,MD International Travel House, Sh. Sunil Dev, Ranji Trophy Cricketer and former president of DDCA, Sh. Sanjiv Nigam, Sahityakar and Director of Hindustani Prachar Sabha established by Mahatma Gandhi, Dr.Pramod Kumar Singhal, Principal at ASVJ School 2005-12 and author of two books on Mathematics and a philanthropist who is always ready to help and see good of his alma mater. Mr. Vishnu Bihari Lal, 1967 batch, IIT Delhi and former Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, who only last month, paid a visit to his mother institution, along with his spouse, to recall and imbibe his school days’ emotions here and addressed the school students and delivered an impressive lecture for them on Space Science. There are hundreds and thousands of great and successful former students who have earned name for themselves in various fields of life and done their Alma Mater proud. The School remembers them all with affection and emotion but for want space this is not possible to name them all here. Many keep visiting the institution every year as a token of gratitude they owe their nourishing mother institution. The School Principal and management/administration makes it a point to honour them and try give them back a pinch of their spent time here.
3. I) Periods of crisis and glory for the School– The first existential crisis in school’s 43-year-old history occurred in December 1912 when its Headmaster Lala Amirchand and Mathematics teacher Sh. Avadh Bihari participated in the bomb attack on Viceroy Lord Hardinge in Delhi’s famous Chandni Chowk. In fact, the anti-imperialist nationalist feelings had gripped the country and the two great sons of the soil jumped in to the freedom struggle. They were arrested, sentenced to death and hanged in May 1915 at the jail in central Delhi, now part of the complex of Maulana Azad Medical College, near Delhi gate. On the one hand, their association with national heroes like Rash Bihari Bose, Lala Hardayal and others and the consequent bomb attack put this school on the map of India’s nationalist movement but it also put school’s finances and academic discipline in jeopardy as the British government withdrew aid and support. At this juncture the management committee of the school installed a strict academic person Lala Azmat Singh as Headmaster who enforced discipline amongst the teachers and the students and helped create better infrastructure for the school. In 1916, a former student and a rich businessman, Lala Amba Persad, offered to construct a new building (the present school building) on a plot of land measuring 7780 sq yards at Daryaganj and provided Rs.80000.00 for the same This was an astronomical amount during those days. The school management engraved his name on Principal’s chamber entrance of the school and called the building Amba Persad Vidyalaya in his honour. The school subsequently shifted to this building in Nov.1920. This marked a great advancement in school’s historical march to greater academic environment.
(II). During the year 1939, the school again faced an unprecedented financial crisis and was on the imminent danger of closure. The maintenance grant was suspended by the British government as it entered the 2nd World War and the managing Committee was in a quandary. It was at this juncture in 1940 that a bright alumnus Lala Sir Shriram came forward to the rescue of his alma mater. After his death Lala Jai Narayan Vaish became its chairman who later became the principal of Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University. Under these two gentlemen the school progressed in all directions, like Sports and Games, NCC, Scouting, Debating, Essay writing competitions and Science talent search tests. Lala Shriram’s and Lala Jai Narayan Vaish’s contributions to the development and growth of this school are unforgettable and will be written in golden letters.
(III). In 1998, dark clouds hovered over the school again. Shriram Education foundation which managed the school for well around 38-39 years now lost interest in managing it as they gradually got more and more engaged in running the college they had founded- SRCC, in Delhi. The condition of the school building needed repairs and there was also an acute shortage of teaching staff. In this trying phase, Mr. Narayan Prasad ji, one of the oldest members of the Shriram Education Foundation, a philanthropist and also a grandson of lala Jugal Kishore, inspired Shri Rajendra Goyla ji and Shri Ravindra Kumar ji, industrialists and philanthropists, to take over the management of the school from the Shriram Education Foundation. The Dharampal Satyapal Charitable Trust led by Shri Goyal ji took over the administration and management of ASVJ Sr. Sec. School and Commercial Sr. Sec School in December 1999. The School has progressed since then and contributed a lot to the educational life of Delhi. The DDA has given the Heritage Award to the ASVJ Sr. Sec. School building constructed in a neo-classical style with upper floors having Doric order columns. The School is doing quite well under the able and kind guidance of its Chairman Shri Ravindra Kumar ji, Vice Chairman Shri Anshu Dewan Ji and secretary, Management Committee Shri Rajiv Wadera ji. The school has been provided good infrastructure by DS Charitable trust with solar panel, Rain water harvesting, Fire safety clearances, Barrier free environment, CCTV along with basketball, volleyball & badminton courts. An Annual, function “Sanskar” is held every year on 3rd Sunday of December by the Alumni Association accolading the contributions and achievements by the students.