The past one and a half years have been exceptional in our history for all aspects of our life and living. None of us has ever experienced a situation like this, which left us flabbergasted, forced us to examine our methods of approaching life and of finding solutions to our problems. In tackling the problems, we have derived happiness from our success and felt frustrated at our failures, but we are determined to find solutions to them. I take this opportunity to thank each of us- students, office staff and teachers for having born the shocks in these extremely testing times. We have been made to realize, as if in a flash, our weaknesses and our strengths. We realize how vulnerable we are to pandemics and how strong we are in our resilience and our collective resolve.

Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute (DCPGRI) or Deccan College (DC), as it is famously known for short, has a very special status among the academic institutions in the country. The University is the third oldest academic institution of modern India. It’s celebrating 200 years of its existence this year. As a Deemed University it offers M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in three subjects, as of today- Archaeology, Linguistics and Sanskrit Studies. All the three departments are known for having made crucial contributions in their fields. Our university is also known for its celebrated resources- the Museum, Galleries, Library and Publications.

It is necessary to recognize that DC is a teaching and research university. Both the academic activities are equally important in our institutional functioning. DC is also placed in a unique situation in which collaborative research in the fields of archaeology, linguistics and Sanskrit studies can be independently and robustly carried out. DC offers additional doploma courses in fields such as foreign languages, culture and heritage, Indian philosphical thought. We hope that these endeavours will develop into full Departments in the coming years with our collective will and efforts.

The university has a glorius list of past alumni- Lokmanya Balgangadhar Tilak (freedom fighter), G.G. Agarkar (social reformer), Prof. R.D. Ranade (justice and philosopher), Sir R. G. Bhandarkar (orientalist), R.N. Dandekar (Sanskritist), N.D. Nagarwala (educationist and sports patron), Appa Pant (Diplomat)and others. The list of alumni has continuously grown and given succour to this great institution.

The challenges facing the society today call for seeking ways to utilize limited resources constructively in order to address problems in the education sector- local, regional, national and international. Toward this end, we look forward to new ideas aimed at bringing the University closer to the needs of the time.

Prof. Pramod Pandey
Vice-Chancellor