Lady Hardinge Medical college Delhi - oldest in North India

Lady Hardinge and her family. Bombay Photo Images[ Mumbai - blogger

lady Hardige, wife of Charles Hardinge viceroy of india. Pinterest

Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst, KG, the second son of Charles Hardinge,  had his education  at famous Harrow School and Trinity College, Cambridge. It was during his tenure, two important events took place that impacted the Indian history -  the visit of King George V and the Delhi Durbar of 1911, and the shifting of  the capital from Calcutta to New Delhi in 1912. With his political clout,  he tried to improve the interactions between  the British administration and the nationalists, thanks to the implementation of the Morley-Minto reforms of 1909. A well-read man, he had great  admiration for Mohandas Gandhi, and  was highly critical of  the South African government's anti-Indian immigration policies.

Medical college logo. /en.wikipedia.org

Hardinge's  sincere efforts paid off in 1914 during the First World War. Due to better  colonial relationships, Britain was able to deploy nearly all of the British troops in India as well as many native Indian troops to areas outside of India. It is worth mentioning that  the British Indian Army played crucial role  in the Mesopotamian campaign. Charles  grand father was  Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge, a former Governor-General of India. Charles  married his first cousin Winifred Selina Sturt, who was the 2nd daughter of Henry Gerard Sturt, 1st Baron Alington, on 17 April 1890.

Lady Hardinge upon her stay in  Calcutta and and her trips to many many places, saw herself lack of education among Indian women, particularly, there was no institution in the north to train them in the area of maternity care and medicine. No sooner had Lady Hardinge  moved over to Delhi along with her husband, who was now the Viceroy of India  than the honorable couple  decided to start  a medical college for women to help the Indian women get training  in medical education, essential for the welfare of the society. She herself  laid the  foundation stone on 17 March 1914 and the college was to be named Queen Mary College & Hospital to commemorate the visit by Queen Mary in 1911-12. Being socially active, as she was , she did not lose her time and had begun to collect funds for a good cause. Lady Hardinge was busy collecting funds for the proposed Medical college from several princely states and the public until her unexpected death on 11 July 1914.

As scheduled, the college was inaugurated on 7 February 1916 by Baron Hardinge in the Imperial Delhi Enclave area and the college and the hospital was named after Lady Hardinge in memory of her as wished by the  Queen herself. The college had a humble beginning with  16 students and the first  principal was Dr. Kate Platt.  One Dr. Ruth Young CBE (Ruth Wilson) was the first Professor of Surgery at the College  and served as Principal from 1936 until 1940. Then  the college was affiliated to University of the Punjab hence the students had to appear for their final examinations at King Edward Medical College in Lahore. The college became part of  the University of Delhi in 1950 and post-graduate courses were introduced  in 1954. Subsequently, a children's hospital came up in 1956 as part of the Lady Hardinge  hospital. 

  The Central Government appointed Board of Administration took over the administration of the institution in 1953  and in February 1978  the institution came directly under the Central government administration -  under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, as per an Act of Parliament. Prior to 1953, it was an autonomous institution managed by a Governing Body. 


 The famous college is located in Connaught Place, New Delhi and the motto of the college is : "Per Ardua Ad Astra"(in Latin) -
"Through Adversity to Stars"

Lady Hardinge Medical College & Associated Hospitals, considered  the oldest hospital for women and children in Northern India is a living and functional hospital in the heart of the capital catering to the people from all walks of life.  The Lady Hardinge Medical College & Associated Hospitals  are under pressure to  handle too many patients. Because of space crunch, certain medical services are not available and the Central government is working hard to improve  the facilities in tune with the increasing arrival of patients  here.  A comprehensive urban design master plan was underway to improve the medical facilities, etc. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Hardinge_Medical_College