SCD Government College, Ludhiana organised its Annual Prize Distribution Function on 15th March 2018 in the Sahir Auditorium. Dr. Manohar Singh Gill, former Chief Election Commissioner and former Youth Affairs and Sports Minister, Govt. of India presided over as the Chief Guest. On this occasion his book- Lahaul Spiti di Kahaniyan was also released.
Dr. Gill was warmly welcomed by the Principal Dr. Dharam Singh Sandhu and the staff and students of the college. Dr. Deepak Manmohan Singh, Sr. Fellow Punjabi University Patiala; S Gurbhej Singh Goraya, Secretary, Punjabi Academy, Delhi; Prof. Jagwinder Jodha; Prof. Anil Dhiman; Prof. Gurbhajan Gill; S Jagdev Singh Olympian; Sh Satish Gulati; S Gurpreet Singh Toor, IPS; Mr. Iqbal Mahal from Canada; retired Principals, Professors and other dignitaries graced this function. The Principal introduced Dr. Gill to the students. He informed that Dr. Gill has held numerous highly responsible positions in the Indian Administration before he became the Chief Election Commissioner and the Sports Minister. He has been honoured with the Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India and Nishan e Khalsa by Punjab Government. The Principal Dr. Sandhu said that the college is very proud of Dr. Gill and all the other illustrious alumni that the college has produced.
Dr. M S Gill presented the Academic Roll of Honour to 12 students of the college. These students made themselves worthy of this award by securing overall top 5 positions in Punjab University Examination. Sandeep Kaur stood 1st in MA English; Shelley Gupta 1st in MA Hindi; Meenu Rani-1st in M.Com (BI); Amandeep Kaur-2nd in M.Com(BI); Kavya Mahna-2nd in M.Com; Veerpal Kaur- 2nd in M.Sc Maths; Akansha Aggarwal-3rd in M.Com (BI); Bhawna-3rd in MA Hindi; Neha Gambhir-4th in M.Sc Maths; Pooja-4th in M.Com; Mamta Kumari-5th in MA Hindi and Shivam 3rd in BA-III.
Academic College Colour was bestowed upon 17 students for securing the next top 5 University positions (from 6th-10th).
9 Students were presented the Academic Merit Certificates.
Members of the Students’ Council were also presented with awards of appreciations for it is because of them that all the function of the college is successfully organized. Three scholars of Hindi who had recently earned their Doctorates from the research centres in the college were also honoured. They are Dr. Sangam verma, Dr. Jasdeep Mohan and Dr. Priya Bhasin.
Thereafter, Dr. Manohar Singh Gill’s book-Lahaul Spiti di Kahaniyan was released. It is in fact, a Punjab translation of his book originally written in English. The Hindi version of this book had been released earlier. The Hindi and Punjabi translators of the book gave brief introductions about the content. Dr. M.S. Gill addressed the students and the auditions in his usual frank, honest and down to earth manner. He clarified that he is a big supporter of Indian languages and that is the reason why he commissioned his book, originally written in English to be translated first in Hindi- the language of a large part of the Indian population and second in Punjabi which is his mother tongue. The book is actually a product of his own imagination, though the origin of the subject matter lies in the cultural tales prevalent in this particular district of Ladakh where he was posted in 1961. He also believes the primary purpose of languages is communication, hence he insisted upon the language of the translated versions of his book to be in simple and easily understood language. He relived his student days here in this college from 1953 to 1957 and said that he cherishes these memories. After partition the college became second in fame after Government College, Lahore because it assimilated many bright minds who had relocated to India. He rues the fact that today the Government is apathetic to the state of education but exhorted the students to study really hard. He also expressed great happiness in meeting one of his friends from his college days, S. Jagdev Singh Olympian whom he would often see practise in the grand athletics grounds that the college had in those days. Dr. Gill’s presence was a source of great inspiration to the students and teachers alike. The function concluded with the singing with the National Anthem.
