Dr. A.C. Vaid, Principal, GGDSD College, Chandigarh

Born and brought up in the industrial town of Batala in the State of Punjab, the impressionable years of my life were deeply influenced by my parents and revered teachers in the school, and later, in the Baring Union Christian College, Batala. There was no magic mantra: the parents and teachers by precept and practice drilled into my mind the values of diligence, austerity, regularity and discipline. I pursued my Post Graduation at D.A.V. College, Amritsar affiliated to Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar securing my Masters in Economics. After a short stint as a lecturer at B.U.C. College, Batala; Chandigarh growing as a great centre of learning drew me to the City Beautiful. My Nineteen years of teaching experience in G.G.D.S.D. College, Chandigarh inter-alia included significant contribution in the construction activities of the college, NCC Officership, Bursership, Controllership of Examination committee, Hostel Wardenship, Incharge of various sports events and Cultural activities. My contribution in the realm of research are: M.Phil thesis titled “Growth and Performance of the Punjab State Cooperative Banks” (1988) and the Ph.D thesis titled “Growth and Performance of Cooperative Financing in the Agrarian Economy of Haryana” (1993).

I have authored around fifty books on topics such as Micro Economics, Macro Economics, Business Economics, Business Mathematics, Quantitative Techniques, Money, Banking, International Economics, Public Finance, Development & Growth, Classical and Modern Thought etc.

Selection as Principal of GGDSD College, Chandigarh in 1995 (25.9.1995) gave me an opportunity to translate into action certain concepts and ideas which I firmly believed in during my academic career both as student and teacher.

I came to realize that the role of parents and teachers in moulding the minds and character of students is of vital importance. This gave me the impetus to follow the dormant desire of my heart to take up the important vocation of a teacher.

A JOURNEY FROM CONCEPTUALIZATION TO EXECUTION

With due deference to the romantic ideals of Gurukuls where students sit under the shade of a tree at the feet of a Guru seem not to serve the purposes of a modern institution, particularly when it is deemed to serve a vast population which is both aware and aspirational. We do need state-of-the-art infrastructure in labs, classrooms, audio visual aids, and various other facilities including virtual and digital libraries. The concept of traditional pedagogy is fast becoming obsolete in moderns times. The awareness, vision and outlook of a student needs inputs beyond the view of the traditional teacher. The explosion of knowledge is so fast and enormous that the teachers do tend to become dated if he has not the where-withall of renewal of information. All the above demand that faculty improvement goes on regularly in a sustained format.

In the post globalization period, the fast changing scenario warranted restructuring of education and the need to reorient resources and create infrastructures optimally conducive to producing of skilled and dexterous and trained personnel direly needed by the industry in particular and society in general. The belief that education must cater both to the “ Life and Living” always remained an inspiring motto. There was, at the same time the need to ensure that knowledge totally devoid of humanistic concerns and aesthetic appreciation & deep reverence for the abiding values could stifle the personality of the students and thus make them lopsided personalities. In order to stimulate a sense of national pride in youth as heirs of a mosaic spiritual tradition and cultural diversity there was need to evolve ways and means to instil in them a sense of civic responsibilities.

In our effort to make students self-reliant, devoting energies to creative tasks, the college introduced many new courses during the decade 1995-2005. Seven UGC sponsored and other vocational electives are:

Biotechnology

.Computer Applications

.Advertising Sales Promotion and Sales Management

.Communicative English

.Information Technology

.Industrial Chemistry

Nine new academic programs were introduced in the category of P.G.Degress and P.G.Diplomas The Student Enrolment witnessed almost 100% growth, rising from 1320 in 1995 to 2671 in 2005 with perceptible improvement in quality intake.