About Society

There were the days when Akola was a very small but a neat & clean town. Though it was a district place, it was not nominated a centre for the S.S.C. examination. The students had to go to Nasik in order to appear in the S.S.C. examination. It was Mr. G.D. Joshi from Nagpur University who understood this pathetic status of education in Akola. Mr. Joshi sacrificed all his prospects at Nagpur and arrived at Akola with a mission in his mind. Within a short period he brought together a group of individuals of analogous thoughts and paved the foundation of the Berar Education Society on 14th Jan 1935- the auspicious day of Makar Sankranti.

To accomplish the needs of the aspiring students, the Berar Education Society opened a new horizon of education. Overwhelming contribution for higher education unleashed from the Saptarishis namely Prof. G.D.Joshi, Prof, R.K. Page, Prof. Shriniwasan, Prof. Soman, Prof. Murkute, Prof. Kelkar.

For the commencement of the Akola Arts College, Late Shri Baburao Joshi had to mortgage his personal residential house. At this economically critical juncture, Shri Bachubhai Mashruwala & Adv. Wasudeo Anant Sahni approached Smt. Sitabai Shah (Jain) for some financial assistance. Smt. Sitabai Shah was a very generous lady. She immediately responded and donated an amount sufficient to clear off the loan taken by Shri Baburao Joshi. Consequently, the Managing Committee decided to name the college after Smt. Sitabai Shah as Sitabai Arts College.

Today, Sitabai Arts College has established itself as one of the most renowned college in the city. It has the achieved the honor of producing several outstanding & talented students like Smt. Nimal Thakar, Smt. Malti Tambe Vaidya, Shri Vallabhdasji Mohota, Shri B.N.Zambare, etc. to name but a few. These gems have glorified the name of the institution as one of the most reputed institution in Vidarbha region.

With the emergence of Sitabai Arts College as an eminent & distinguished institution, the expectations of the people from the B.G.E. society mounted sky high. Subsequently, the Society positively responded to the public demand and opened not only Commerce but also a Science College named as L.R.T. college of Commerce, R.L.T. college of Science and Shri. Nathamal Goenka Law College respectively.

Later, another benevolent person Shri Nathmalji Goenka provided financial assistance for opening a college at Karanja (Lad). This college was named as K.N. College of Arts & Commerce. This was followed by the opening of an English medium school by the B.G.E. Society. Afterwards the YCMOU courses were also started which are running successfully to date.

In this way, starting with just 25 students, the institution has progressed by leaps and bounds. Today, it can boast of having more than 11000 students taking education in various colleges of the B.G.E. Society.

But this should not be considered as the end of the journey. On the contrary, it is the beginning of new avenues & new ventures. The dreams of the founder members are to be fulfilled by the present devotees of the Society. And these devotees include not only the members of the Managing Committee but also the Principals, the Professors, the Lecturers, the non-teaching staff and the students related to the B.G.E. Society directly or indirectly. All should come together to enhance the name & fame of the society to the peaks of glory.