Bill upgrading Presidency College to university passed

KOLKATA - The West Bengal Assembly Friday passed a Bill upgrading the 192-year-old Presidency College into a university.

The Presidency College, which played a sterling role in the 19th century renaissance besides churning out scholars and luminaries in various walks of life, would become a unitary university without the burden of affiliate colleges. So far, it was an affiliate of Calcutta University.

The Presidency University Bill, 2009, was moved by state Higher Education Minister Sudarshan Roy Chowdhury and passed by a voice vote in the absence of any of the opposition parties, who had staged a walkout protesting against some remarks by Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Thursday.

Roy Chowdhury later told media persons that it would have been better had the opposition benches not been empty on such a historic day.

He said the university would have a teacher selection committee which could recruit teachers from any part of the country.

The minister said the post-graduate courses will start from the coming session itself, but was not sure whether the under-graduate studies could also begin simultaneously.

The Left Front government seemed determined to push through the bill disregarding the opposition’s demand to send it to the assembly select committee for further discussions.

The left-leaning West Bengal Government College Teachers’ Association (WBGCTA) had also opposed the move to make Presidency a unitary university, demanding that all 35 government colleges in the state be brought in its ambit. It also called for a “ceasework” in all government colleges Friday on the issue.

Though Presidency, with around 2,500 students, still churns out talent, there has been criticism of its falling standards due to politics in teacher recruitment and frequent student unrest. Founded in 1817 as Hindu College, the institution was christened Presidency College in 1855.

Among its alumni, the college can boast of poet Rabindranath Tagore, social reformer Swami Vivekananda, freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, filmmaker Satyajit Ray, Marxist legend Jyoti Basu, economist Amartya Sen and scientist Satyendranath Bose.

The demand for granting autonomous status to the college was first raised in the early 1970s by students, teachers and alumni.

Two education commissions set up by the Left Front government had also recommended autonomy for the college, but the idea was stalled, thanks to teachers’ bodies affiliated to the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) that feared losing control over the college.

The move to give the college university status was spear-headed by none other than Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, who himself is an alumnus.