Kirori Mal College: Trade Wind

THE BEGINNINGS OF KIRORI MAL COLLEGE (KMC) are a part of the narrative of the struggle for India’s independence. It was es­tablished in 1951 as Nirmala College on Qutab Road, Delhi, through the generous donation by the trust headed by the founder, Lala Kirori Mal. It was established as KMC in 1954, and the foundation of the present building at University Enclave was laid by the then President Rajendra Prasad. The Department of Commerce, too, was established in 1954 and has been one of the most well-known departments over the years.

The Department of Commerce has been continuously renewing itself to keep up with the evolving structure of the discipline as well as the aspirations of its students. The department offers two undergraduate programmes in Commerce—BCom (Programme) and BCom (Honours)—for the students. The admission process is highly com­petitive. For the batch of 2021-22, the first cut-off percentage for BCom (Hon­ours) was 99 per cent, and that of BCom (Programme) was 98.7 per cent. At pres­ent, around 800 students are studying commerce as their main subject at KMC. Besides the BCom (Honours) and the BCom (Programme) courses, the subject is taught to students of oth­er disciplines as well through courses like Generic Electives—Stock Market, Business Statistics and Economics of Regulation of Domestic and Foreign Exchange Markets—with the aim of instilling skills and abilities in students from non-commerce backgrounds. Conversely, the students from the Department of Commerce are also of­fered several interdisciplinary courses in social sciences and humanities. The Department of Commerce at KMC thus plays a vital role in training students to approach the domain of business with a discretion that enables them to con­front and resolve complexities in the world at large.

The department is sensitive to special skills that the present-day in­dustry expects an outgoing student to possess. This is achieved through the teaching-learning process within the classroom as well as outside of it. The department, like the college, is aware that the aim of education is to allow space and guidance to students that would lead to the holistic develop­ment of their personalities. This is done through special lectures, panel discussions, field trips, and other co-curricular activities where the students get practical experience of the real world. Hands-on projects provide opportunities for learning to work in real-world situations. With the same vision in mind, the department routinely organises in­ternships for students, and nearly 455 students are today pursuing in­ternships at top-draw accountancy firms, among others.

Placement agencies visit the col­lege every year, and more than 175 recruiters came to the college dur­ing 2021-22. The attempt to assist students in getting good placements did not slow down even during the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, the department managed to identify and cultivate some of its strengths during Covid-19. It conducted online placement programmes and saw an increase of 40 per cent in the number of successful placements.

Keeping the overall well-being of students in mind, the department has established the “Mentor-Mentee” groups where academic, personal, emotional, financial, or any other kind of problems faced by students may be discussed in a private, and if need be, confidential manner. Par­ents, too, are invited to interact with the teachers for the betterment of the students. The involvement of faculty in outreach and extension activities has also helped in building partner­ships with not only the alumni but with other reputed institutes like the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

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