Presidency College set for rare honour

Kolkata: The who's who of Bengal went there to study from Rabindranath Tagore to Satyajit Ray to Jyoti Basu to Amartya Sen. And now the 192-year-old Presidency College here is about to be bestowed a rare honour university status.

But many intellectuals, who are alumni of the hallowed institution and have seen its academic standards plummet over the years due to political interference, say a lot more needs to be done to restore its lost glory.

"Upgrading Presidency College to a university won't help until and unless there are quality professors and students. Recruitment of professors should be on the basis of merit and not on the basis of political influence," said well-known poet Shankha Ghosh.

"An academic atmosphere free of unholy political interests should be encouraged so that the university becomes a melting pot of high class merit, so that the honour of this institute can be rebuilt," said Ghosh, a Presidency alumnus.

Originally, it was called Hindu College and came to be re-christened Presidency College in 1855. It was the college that cradled the Bengal renaissance in the 19th century. It went on to produce students who became legends in their respective spheres — social reformer Swami Vivekananda, scientist Satyendranath Bose, freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose to name a few.

Though Presidency, with around 2,500 students, still churns out talent, standards have fallen due to politics in teacher recruitment and frequent student unrest. There has also been a steady refusal on the part of the authorities to give it special treatment.

Demand

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

But neither Congress chief minister S.S. Ray nor his Marxist successor Jyoti Basu, who headed the first five Left Front governments in Bengal from 1977 to 2000, could take the step forward. The idea was stalled thanks to teachers' bodies affiliated to the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM). Ironically, the move to give the college university status is being spearheaded by none other than Marxist Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, who himself is an alumnus. Things have started moving in the last few days with Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi giving his assent.