Established on 6th day of September 1979, Dera Natung Government College with its erstwhile name ‘Government College, Itanagar’ aimed at imparting higher education to young and inquisitive minds of the state at a point of time when the opportunity was scarce in the state. The founders had an ambitious endeavour not merely to make it a centre for offering Degrees but also to let the youths explore new areas of knowledge, providing a platform for budding leadership in all walks of life, preparing the youths for future challenges in personal and social spheres and grooming them as competent human resources, who, in turn, could promote the high social ideals such as equality, social justice, communal harmony and cultural plurality and other vital objectives of this college.
The college initially functioned from Govt. Higher Secondary School building, Itanagar, and fulfilled the educational aspirations of a few ambitious students with four departments viz. English, Hindi, Economics and History in the evening shift. In 1986, it was relocated to its present sprawling campus with a huge Administrative and Academic Block and continued both in the night and the day shifts till 1990 when the night shift was finally done away with. Since then, the college has progressed in leaps and bounds in terms of infrastructure, student strength, faculty position, impressive student performance and academic research. The college has been assessed and accredited by NAAC, Bangalore, for 3 cycles consecutively.
During its 43 years of glorious existence, the college community consisting of students, faculty members, non-teaching staff and of course the college authorities have been working towards the fulfilment of these ideals and goals and presently it remains one of the premier institutes of Higher Education in the State with a legacy of excellence in teaching and learning process. The college was re-christened as DERA NATUNG GOVERNMENT COLLEGE in the session 2001-02 to commemorate the remarkable contributions of the visionary and illustrious leader, late Dera Natung, who served as one of the finest and most dynamic Education Ministers thriving for all round development of education in the State.
The College has presently more than 4000 students enrolled in three streams viz Arts, Science and Commerce, comprising of 14 departments. There are 84 highly qualified and dedicated faculty members and 57 competent non-teaching staff working tirelessly for the growth of the institution. The college has a well-stocked library with 36718 titles with a reading hall for students and designated chambers for the teachers. A big play ground with an open stadium developed under UGC fund provides ample facilities to students to nurture their skills in games and sports, athletic activities and other events for development of recreational and healthy environment in the campus. An Auditorium in the heart of the college facilitates the cultural, literary and indoor sports events besides providing ample space to conduct awareness programme, counselling, workshop, seminar, etc. The college has a Computer Centre and IT Cell to train the students in basics of computer education. A fully digital Language Lab set up under RUSA scheme helps the students sharpen their listening and speaking skills.
The Coaching for Entry in Services Cell of the college imparts coaching to APST students for entry into various services. The coaching is held for numerous competitive examinations with special focus on civil services and banking recruitment examinations. The Counselling Cell creates awareness among the students regarding potential career opportunities. A Remedial Coaching Centre takes care of the economically and educationally backward students by providing coaching to improve their standard. The college has well equipped NCC wings and NSS units which groom and guide students to imbibe spirit of discipline, unity, patriotism and social responsibilities. The cadets and volunteers serve the nation in various spheres with confidence and pride.