The D.A.V. College Managing Committee, commonly known as DAVCMC, is a non-governmental educational organisation in India and overseas with over 900 schools, 75 colleges and a university. It is based on the ideals of Dayananda Saraswati and Arya Samaj. The Dayanand Anglo-Vedic (DAV) education system also comprises colleges offering graduate and post-graduate degrees in various disciplines all over India.
Founded in 1886 in Lahore, British India (now Pakistan), these schools are run by the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic College Trust (DAVCT) and Management Society, also commonly known as the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic Education Society (DAVES). Today, institutional records of the D.A.V. College Trust and Management Society are part of the archives at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, at Teen Murti House, Delhi.
English is the primary language of instruction, with students also receiving compulsory education in Hindi and Sanskrit or a regional language. The DAV movement has grown to become the single largest non-governmental educational society in the country, managing 900+ educational institutions, apart from D.A.V. Public Schools across the country and even abroad,(~9 including Nepal, Singapore, UK, USA and colleges in Mauritius and Fiji) with an annual budget of more than INR â¹2 billion. It employs over 50,000 people and educates more than 2 million students every year.
In 2013, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India awarded 40 institutions for its contribution to quality education. ASSOCHAM awarded DAV College Managing Committee with 'Best Chain of Schools in India' award.
Mahatma Hansraj was the founder of the national D.A.V. College Managing Committee. In 1886 the first DAV School was established in Lahore which was subsequently upgraded to become the first DAV College. In 1886 the DAV College Trust and Management Society was established and registered.
The first inaugural holder for the post of President was Rai Bahadur Lal Chand whose term was from 1886 until 1894, from 1896 until 1899 and from 1900 until 1902. Other office holders were Bhagat Ishwar Dass, Lala Dwarka Dass, Mahatma Hansraj, CJI Mehr Chand Mahajan, Padma Bhushan Suraj Bhan, Prof. Ved Vyasa, Darbari Lal, T. R. Tuli, G. P. Chopra and other. The current office holder is Padma Shri Dr. Punam Suri whose term is from 2011.
There are more than 75 colleges across India for graduate and post-graduate programmes.
Under DAV
There are over 62 government-aided DAV schools across the country which are run by DAVCMC in co-operation with six states (Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, New Delhi, Orissa, and Punjab) and the Chandigarh union territory governments.
There are more than 900 not-for-profit charitable trust-run unaided DAV schools across India and several other countries for studies up to the higher secondary level. In India, they are more in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha.
These Arya Samaj educational institutes are not under the DAV College Managing Committee.