The institution is run by the Jassar Dental Medical Education Health Foundation (JDMEHF), a charitable society. The Founder’s Day is celebrated in the memory of Mr. Ajit Singh Jassar who started the society that runs the institution in 1997. On the occasion of his 67th birthday, JDMEHF also instituted the annual A.S. Jassar Oration Lecture.
Mr. Ajit Singh Jassar was born in 1956 and did his schooling in Roorkee. He went on to do his graduation from the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi. He is credited with re-inventing Modinagar as an education city. He founded the DJ Group of Institutions and developed its sprawling 75-acre residential campus. The campus has a renowned dental, engineering, pharmacy, ayurveda, and paramedical college today as well as two independent hospitals.
Dr. Pradeep Shukla, Dean and Principal delivered the inaugural address tracing the journey of the institution over the last 25 years, “There are many in this room who have devoted more than 20 years of their professional life to this institution. I am proud to count myself in that list. Our stated goal and aim is to build on Mr. Jassar’s dreams and make DJ Dental College the top dental institution of the country."
Delivering the keynote address, Mr. Rhitik Jassar, Secretary, JDMEHF shared, “Back in 1998, this part of UP was completely undeveloped. There were neither any approach roads, nor any electricity. Modinagar was a rural town that had suffered due to the collapse of the Modi Industries that left the large part of the population unemployed. There were only narrow dirt lanes and farm land on all sides. It was at that point in time that Mr. Ajit Singh Jassar, the founder of this college and my father, had the courage of believing in this area’s potential as capable of nurturing a dental institution. Such was his belief in this area that he chose not only to build multiple institutions here, but also built his family’s home on the same campus."
Rhitik Jassar struck an aspirational note by adding, “We have a strength of 1500 students today with 600 of them residing on campus. In addition to a general hospital of 300 beds, we have identified a land parcel to build a 200-bed super-specialty hospital, a first of its kind in Modinagar. Our intent and aim is to bring 150 seats of MBBS and a medical college to our city by 2025. Our goal is to build a medical education university that functions also as a medicity."
Dr. Nikhilesh Vaid, a distinguished practitioner and academic of Orthodontics, who attended the program as its Guest of Honour added, “In many ways, the story of DJ Dental College and the story of the Jassar family is the story of India. It is this spirit of displaying courage and initiative to build critical infrastructure in the field of education and healthcare that will lay the foundation of a developed modern India."
Dr. Samar Adel, a renowned dentist from Egypt, delivered the first A.S. Jassar Oration lecture to a packed auditorium of undergraduate and postgraduate students. Academic achievers of BDS and MDS program were felicitated by the dignitaries. The program was also attended by Dr. Anup Kanase, Professor of Orthodontics at Maulana Azad Institute of Dental Sciences and Dr. Smiti Klaire, CEO of JDMEHF.
