The Department of Botany, Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College is on the first floor of the science block. As one enters through the channel gate, the construction appears to be similar on either side, giving department a symmetric look. The Department has a long corridor which has a Morphology Lab, BL1 on one end, and the Physiology Lab, BL2 on the other end. Along one wall of the corridor which connects these labs are situated Lecture Halls – a larger one is G2 and a smaller one is G2A. The corridor also has a computer room and a mini staff room, a museum, two rooms for faculty and a store. The other (opposite) wall which looks out into college lawns and library has four rooms for faculty and two toilets. Thus the total rooms for the faculty are six, which gives ample opportunity to teachers to work independently at one’s own pace and freedom. In addition, there is a third lab, BL3 which was constructed when BSc (Prog) Life Science was introduced in University of Delhi. There is also a spacious and well planned Botanical garden which caters to the plant material required for practical classes. The facility in the Department is discussed in detail in the following account.

MORPHOLOGY LAB/ BL1

This laboratory was popularly and more aptly called Morphology lab because practical classes of all the papers such as Mycology, Phycology, Anatomy, Embryology, Systematics and Archegoniate which required studies on morphology or the studies on life cycle were conducted in this lab. However, with New Education Policy, the nature of practical classes has become more heterogeneous and occasionally the classes held here may demand facilities for cell biology, ecology and physiology. The lab is able to cater to these as well. The lab is partitioned and the main door leads to one half or partition of this lab. It is well lit and has an impressive infrastructure. The tables are well maintained with enough area for the students to keep their belongings and work freely with microscopes and files nicely spread out. The tables have a leg space where the stools fit in for the student to sit and work. The plug point is provided at each seat for the lamps or the microscopes to be connected. The tables also have small drawers and cupboards for storage. There is a blackboard against one wall, and a large table and a podium for the faculty. The other wall has fixed wooden cupboards and shelves where the preserved plant material for classwork is stored. These materials are listed with clarity and are classified paper wise in a systematic fashion. There is provision for the lab staff to sit and work during the class, helping the students with issuing of microscopes and other apparatus. The lab staff includes a senior most technical assistant, senior technical assistant and lab attendants. They maintain not only the plant material but also registers with all the instruments well documented. The subjacent lab is meant for display of specimens, permanent slides, water baths, and projection work. The lab becomes handy when the class is big and the students have to be spaced well during examinations. In routine this lab can also be used for delivery of lecture. The arrangement of tables and seats for student in this half is similar to the other half. There is a projector, distillation unit, refrigerator, cupboards, microwave oven and an incubator in this section. Both the partitions have sinks, are airy and spacious, and can accommodate about 22 students each during the exam time.

PHYSIOLOGY LAB/ BL2

The lab is without any partition making it appear ‘huge’, airy, spacious and well kept. The lab has a large blackboard, podium, table for the faculty, and tables with seating arrangement and attached sink as in morphology lab. As the lab is equipped for practical classes that require big instruments such as centrifuge, spectrophotometer, and others, the cupboards and shelves are more in number. The shelves are fixed in the wall and store apparatus for elaborate experiments in ecology, physiology, molecular biology and biotechnology. There is provision for chemicals, reagent bottles, microscopes, water baths, balance, distillation unit, and others. The chemicals that need to be stored at low temperature are kept in the refrigerator. The lab staff has area for preparation of the chemicals and making necessary arrangements for the class. The lab has a projector and is one of the best labs in the university. The lab staff is also with technical assistants and lab attendants.

BL3

This is a small lab, generally used for a class with strength of about 15 students. The optional paper (DSE & GE) classes are held here and some research projects can be carried out. This lab is also used for taking theory classes when the lecture theatre remains occupied. This lab is equipped with autoclaves, laminar air flow and a projector with screen. There is no separate lab staff for this but lab attendants from BL1 and BL2 are put on duty in this lab.

LECTURE THEATRE G2

A big room with a seating capacity of about 100 students, has seats arranged in a racked manner. It has a projector and a screen, a blackboard and a huge table for faculty. It is an air conditioned room and is also used for organizing events, special lectures and farewell parties. The room comes handy during theory exams as 60 seats can be arranged with enough space between them.

LECTURE THEATRE - G2A

This is smaller room which accommodates a class of 20-25 students. It has a projector and is popular when viva or group discussions are to be held. Faculty rooms There are a total of six rooms allotted to faculty on double occupancy basis. Each room is provided with individual almirah for the faculty. The tables are provided with storage cupboards and drawers. Additional one long table is kept against the wall which is used by the faculty for keeping the files or assignments which need not be stored for a later date.

STORE

With senior most lab staff taking charge of the purchase of chemicals, apparatus and glassware, the store keeper remains engaged with the work of updating the equipment. He is also responsible for the attendance of lab staff and issue of admit cards to the students. The store has almirahs for chemicals, glass wares and registers. The annual stock taking of the items in the Department happens during the month of April- May which keeps the store updated and organized. Students’ activity board and Notice board, and faculty boards are maintained by updating the pin ups.

GURU HAR RAI BOTANICAL GARDEN

A well maintained Botanical garden named after the seventh guru of Sikhs is a big asset to the Department. Situated adjacent to the science block, it demarcates the boundary of the college wall facing towards NH44. The garden was revamped in the year 2016 during NAAC visit, after which a diverse species of plants have been raised. There are well designed ‘kiyaries’ for the classwork material such as legumes, cereals, compositae and cruciferae members. The central pond has aquatic plants such as Hydrilla, Lemna, Potamogeton and Nymphaea. The pond is cleaned at intervals and kept free of mosquitoes. The garden has a bonsai house which is also used as a nursery, and seedlings and juvenile plants are kept here for special care. There are compost bins and a mushroom facility. The garden which was raised decades back to be a repository of class work material has become a green space for in-house projects in which students work and it is here in the garden that plants are raised for experimentation. The composting activity is taken up by National Service Scheme (NSS) Unit of the college in this garden. The Mushroom cultivation under the Skill Enhancement course paper is carried out in this facility.

MUSEUM

A large museum is a collection of wet and dry specimens which are preserved as per the requirement of classes. Specimens are displayed in the shelved stainless steel cupboards with glass doors. The museum is well ventilated and well lit. There is a museum committee with both teaching and non-teaching staff to maintain the collection which has been an effort of the faculty over decades. Every care is taken to keep the wet specimens safe and that they do dry out by refilling the preservative while the herbaria are sprayed with gentle insecticide. The cupboards are kept updated by putting the list of specimens that are stored. As the space is large and the New Education Policy is focusing more on skill based and marketoriented subjects, there is no expansion of the museum specimens. The collection is also banned, and replaced with digital herbaria. It was therefore agreed upon by the faculty to devote a few cupboards to Departmental Library, the funds for which are provided by College under the Students’ Aid Fund. This library is maintained by the committee with faculty members who are nominated on rotation basis.

MISCELLANEOUS

There is a computer room where desk top/laptop with printer attached is installed. This is placed inside an enclosure where students are not allowed to access. The data stored in the computer is confidential with Internal assessment, examination duties, question papers, attendance and much more. It also has cabinets fixed in the wall where practical exam record is stored. Files are arranged and stacked with each file having all the documents such as Keys, guidelines, attendance sheets and question papers. There is also a small set up for departmental meetings and teachers to have tea outside the enclosure of computer. This is the lively room where teachers can discuss academics over a cup of tea!

INSTRUMENTS PURCHASED FOR UPGRADATION OF LABS WITH NEW EDUCATION POLICY IN GRADUATION

Double Distillation Unit

Microwave Oven

Dissecting Microscopes

 Monocular & Stereozoom microscopes

Nikon microscopes with LED lamp

Pedestal fans

 Anemometer

Hot air oven

Magnetic stirrer with hot plates

Water baths

Table lamp

 Electronic lamps

Refrigerators

Vacuum pump

Colorimeter

Deep freezer

Hydroponic set up