History and Development of the Board

HSNC Board where ideas come to life…

The history of institutions in the first few years of their inception are the most fascinating narratives, for they speak volumes for the times, the dynamics, the leadership and the people for whom they were built. One such history, unique and inspiring is the trajectory of the growth of Hyderabad (Sind) National Collegiate Board and its institutions.

A dream, a strategy, a hope and a changed political situation seem to have been the basic ingredients of what is today a reputed chain of well managed colleges. Hyderabad (Sind) National Collegiate Board (HSNCB) was first founded in Hyderabad Sind, now in Pakistan, in the year 1917. A college was established, with the blessings of Dr.Annie Besant, by the group of national minded theosophists, as a truly “National Institution” with its own aims and ideals for training and providing young persons, dedicated and inspired national workers in the sacred cause of the freedom of the country. In the year 1921, the management of the college was handed over to the Collegiate Board which then got affiliated to the University of Mumbai, then known as University of Bombay, as a full fledged college of B.A. Degree and subsequently B.Sc. Degree was added.

The college was named as Rishi Dayaram Gidumal College. In the next two decades, the HSNCB had expanded and built an additional wing to house a Commerce College. Then in 1947, partition of the sub-continent into India and Pakistan struck a cruel blow to any further consolidation in the field of higher education. K.M.Kundnani, then the newly appointed Principal of the College and as a man of infinite vision had begun to dream about the future of the college. To him “Hyderabad was the heart of Sind and his Colleges the heart of Hyderabad.” In the changing political scenario, laced with feelings of hatred, such sentiments did not hold good. It is troubled times that test the endurance as well as the limits of human ingenuity. The entire sub-continent was one of gloom and uncertainty. Principal K.M.Kundnani consoled his staff with the assurance that he was going to start a college in Bombay. To start this new college in Bombay, Principal Kundnani, along with Barrister Hotchand Advani, approached Seth Kishinchand Chellaram who immediately provided the seed money to establish colleges in Churchgate, Bombay and furthermore made an unlimited financial commitment to make available whatever was the shortfall in funding required by HSNCB.

Armed with Seth Kishinchand Chellaram’s financial commitment and inspired by a new mission, guided by his pragmatic no-nonsense approach and sense of thrift, Principal K.M.Kundnani shipped equipment, books and a prized chair, with the insignia of a college to Bombay. These qualities that he was endowed with in good measure, and buoyed by the seed funding by Late Mr Kishinchand Chellaram, were to play a seminal role in the setting up of the Board Colleges in Bombay.