It was to realize India’s first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s dream of an educationally rich and vibrant India that Advocate, Late Sh. Des Raj, former Health Minister, Punjab and Member, Punjab Public Service Commission, and some of his friends established this institution of higher learning in 1965 in Pandit Nehru’s memory.
Lovingly known as Babu Des Raj to one and all, he was a visionary fired with missionary zeal to dispel the darkness of ignorance by spreading the light of knowledge. His untiring efforts and those of his friends, who shared his ideas and his concern for the people of this predominantly rural area, bore fruit in the form of this College.
The foundation stone of the College building was laid by Late Comrade Ram Kishen, the then Chief Minister of Punjab, on 18th August 1965. The old building had a small administrative block, three laboratories, and five classrooms; out of these five, one doubled as a library also.
Mansa, then a Tehsil of Bathinda, was educationally one of the most impoverished areas of the Malwa region of Punjab. Under the able guidance of founder President of the College Managing Committee Babu Des Raj, and very competent leadership provided by Sh. B. P. Mohan, the founder Principal of the College, Nehru Memorial College happened to be the first coeducational College which catered to the educational needs of the area for about three decades before being taken over by the Govt. of Punjab on March 18, 1994; it was then rechristened as Nehru Memorial Government College. The taking over of the College by the Punjab Govt. was a defining moment for the College in many ways.
Late Sardar Beant Singh, the then Chief Minister of Punjab, who was largely instrumental in the Punjab Govt. taking over the College, graced the College with his presence at a function marking the inauguration of the College as Govt. College on 21st March, 1994.Sensing the growing needs of the College, liberal grants were sanctioned by the Punjab Govt. from time to time. Sardar Parkash Singh Badal, the then Chief Minister of Punjab, laid the foundation stone of the new (present) building on 7th August, 1997
