Guru Nanak Khalsa College of Arts, Science & Commerce


Guru Nanak Khalsa College is a higher education college located in Matunga, Mumbai, India.
The college was established in 1937 by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee. It is located in the immediate vicinity of three other institutions of learning, namely Don Bosco High School, Institute of Chemical Technology, and the Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute. Its alumni include Indian Olympians and the Indian Hockey team members, some of whom are recipients of the Arjuna award and Padma Shri, and Hindi film personalities.

History

Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee’s Guru Nanak Khalsa College of Arts, Science and Commerce is among the earliest institutions of higher learning that emerged on the educational landscape of the erstwhile city of Bombay. It is one of the few colleges in Mumbai to have its own sports ground. The College is one of Mumbai’s older colleges; it is permanently affiliated to the University of Mumbai and was accorded the UGC recognition under 2f in 1974. Its financial status is grant-in-aid.
G. N. Khalsa was the brainchild of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, who wanted to set up a centre or an institute in Bombay for higher education. In 1935 he put forth this proposal of establishing an educational institution for higher education in Bombay to the Sikh religious leaders at Amritsar. The Sikh leaders agreed upon this idea with their main objective of providing good quality of higher education and also to popularize Sikh culture in a non-Sikh State. Thus in 1937, G. N. Khalsa College was born in a plot where the college stands today, with the total area of 27, 642 sq. yards.

Notable alumni

G. N. Khalsa College has produced famous personalities in various fields including academicians like the former Vice-Chancellor of Mumbai University Shri Ram Joshi. The College has also produced many famous Sports personalities, Olympians, Arjuna award winners and Padmashris. The following Khalsities have represented India in Olympics: S.S. Narayan, Mary Leela Rao, Balbir Singh, Silma D’Silva, Lorraine Fernandes, Joaquim Carvalho, Marcelus Gomes, Mark Patterson, Jude Menezes, Adrian D’Souza, Gavin Fereira and many more. Lorraine Fernandes and Joaquim Carvalho are also Arjuna Award recipients; where as Silma D’Silva is also a recipient of the prestigious Padmashri.
Cinema entities who studied at Khalsa college include Ramesh Talwar, Kuldeep Singh, Salim and Akshay Kumar.
The College also conducts classes on Punjabi, Divinity and carries out `Akhand Path’ followed by `Langar’. The colleges also houses a gurudwara within its campus.
Ishrat Jahan, a 19-year-old woman was allegedly killed in an encounter was a second year student of Bachelor of Science of the college.