Vivekananda College, Thakurpukur

Vivekananda College

UG Science Block of Vivekananda College
Former name	Barisha College
Motto in English	From darkness, lead us to the light
Type	Public
Established	21 August 1950;73 years ago (21 August 1950)
Accreditation	NAAC "A"
Affiliation	University of Calcutta UGC
President	Smt. Ratna Chateerjee
Principal	Dr. Tapan Kr. Poddar
Students	4,423
Address	269, Diamond Harbour Road, Thakurpukur , Kolkata , West Bengal 700063 , India 22°27′51.941″N88°18′28.55″E / 22.46442806°N 88.3079306°E / 22.46442806; 88.3079306
Campus	Urban (6.17 acres)
Website	www.vckolkata63.org
Location in Kolkata Show map of Kolkata Vivekananda College, Thakurpukur (India) Show map of India

Vivekananda College is a state government-aided public college, affiliated to the University of Calcutta, ^[1] located in southwest Kolkata, close to the Thakurpukur metro station. The college offers both post-graduate and under-graduate courses in a number of subjects of science, arts and commerce. Founded in 1950 as Barisha College, it was established under the dispersal scheme of the state government to reduce the pressure of students from the then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.

In 2013-14, it was ranked 1 in the ranking of India Today's Nielsen survey as the best science college in Kolkata. ^{[2] [3]} The college is affiliated to Calcutta University, under UGC and accredited by NAAC.

History

Statue of Swami Vivekananda in Vivekananda College

In 1950, it was established as Barisha College, an Intermediate College, under the state government's dispersal scheme to reduce the pressure of students from East Pakistan, present-day Bangladesh, on colleges in the Kolkata metropolis. It was first set up at Barisha High School and later shifted to its newly constructed premises near the school premises in 1953. In this time, between 1952-53, Jibanananda Das joined as an English professor in this college. He was appointed as a temporary professor of the then Barisha College, sometime in November 1952 and worked till February 1953. ^[4]

In June 1956, after the college came under the sponsorship of the State Government, it was upgraded to a degree College and also brought under the Refugee Education Scheme of the Ministry of Rehabilitation of the Government of India. Afterwards, the college was renamed as ‘‘Vivekananda College’’ after the sacred name of Swami Vivekananda, an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author and religious teacher. ^[5]

As the number of students increased rapidly and the lack of accommodation fell sharply, it was again shifted in 1959 to new spacious premises at Thakurpukur having a sprawling campus area of about 6.17 acres of land where the present college buildings were constructed with capital grants retrieved from the Ministry of Rehabilitation. In 1961, 29 August, the women's section of the original college building of Barisha got a status of separate independent college, named as Vivekananda College for Women. ^[6] On 12 January 1963, Swami Vivekananda's birth centenary ceremony was celebrated at Vivekananda College. The program was inaugurated by the then State Government Minister Saila Kumar Mukherjee. Eminent poet, novelist and editor Achintya Kumar Sengupta was also present there on that occasion. ^[7]

Academics

It is a co-educational College offering Undergraduate (UG) courses in Arts, Science and Commerce streams. The college offers a three year B.Sc. Honours and General courses in 12 varied subjects namely Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Zoology, Botany, Environmental Science, Computer Science, Economics, Electronics, Biochemistry, Statistics and Geography. The college offers a three year B.A. Honours and General courses in varied subjects like English, Bengali, History, Political Science, Sanskrit, Philosophy, Journalism & Mass Communication. ^[8] In addition, three other subjects like Human Rights, Women Studies and Film studies are also taught as B.A. General course. The college offers a three year B.Com. Honours and General course in Accounting and Finance.

This college also offers Postgraduate (PG) programmes in several courses affiliated to University of Calcutta from the session 2016-17. Those courses are M.A. in Bengali, History and M.Sc. in Physics, Zoology.

Apart from this traditional molds of course pattern, Vivekananda college has introduced some short-term self-financing courses with UGC-sponsored vocational courses like Bioinformatics, Financial accounting, Secretarial practice, Journalism, Mass communication, Film studies, Photography etc. The college offers a six month Certificate Course on Basic Photography in self-finance mode. The college also offered skill oriented programmes on Ornamental Fish Culture and Photojournalism & Videography, under UGC sponsorship. ^[9]

Publishing

The college, since 2007, has been regularly publishing its peer-reviewed research journal Bodhi. Each volume of the journal consists of three separate issues: Bodhi Artham (a journal of Economics, Commerce and Management), Bodhi Kala (a journal of Humanities) and Bodhi Bijnana (a journal of Science). The journal has the ISSN 2277-4831. ^[10]

Accreditation and recognition

Vivekananda College is recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC). In 2004, Vivekananda College was awarded ‘‘B++’’ status in the first cycle of the college's accreditation by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). In 2016, it was re-accredited and awarded ‘‘Grade A’’ status in the second cycle of the college's accreditation by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). ^[11] Vivekananda College has a campaign of ‘Clean and Green Campus’ recognised by NAAC Peer team on 2014 State-wise Analysis of Accreditation Reports. ^[12]

In 2013-14, it was ranked 1st in the ranking of India Today's Nielsen survey as the best science college in Kolkata. ^{[2] [3]} All-over India, Vivekananda College was ranked 27th by the India Today Group's survey on best colleges in science stream and 1st among the colleges in West Bengal in 2017. ^[13]

Notable faculties

• Jibanananda Das ^{[14] [15]} - an Indian poet, writer, novelist and essayist in the Bengali language.
• Jibendra Singha Roy - a Bengali writer.

See also

• List of colleges affiliated to the University of Calcutta
• Education in India
• Education in West Bengal

References

1. "Colleges affiliated to University of Calcutta". University of Calcutta . Archived from the original on 29 November 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
2. "Best Colleges in India 2013: List of City Wise Ranking: Best Science Colleges (Kolkata) by India Today Group". India Today. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
3. "List of City Wise Ranking : Best Science Colleges in 2014 (Kolkata) by India Today Group". India Today. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
4. Seely, Clinton B. (1990). A Poet Apart: A Literary Biography of the Bengali Poet Jibanananda Das (1899-1954). Newark, Delaware, USA: University of Delaware Press. p. 260. ISBN   978-0-87413-356-1.
5. "VIVEKANANDA COLLEGE - Official Website". www.vckolkata63.org. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
6. বড়িশা, কলকাতা, বিবেকানন্দ মহিলা মহাবিদ্যালয় (28 August 2011). "সুবর্ণলেখাঃ সুবর্ণজয়ন্তী স্মারক সংকলন". Archived from the original on 15 August 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
7. ফিরে দেখা, আনন্দবাজার পত্রিকা (13 January 1963). "বীর সন্ন্যাসী বিবেকানন্দ". archives.anandabazar.com. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
8. Kumar, Ashish; Gupta, Ameeta (2006). Handbook of Universities. Vol. 1. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. p. 169. ISBN   978-81-269-0607-9.
9. 2nd Cycle of Accreditation 2015, p. 30-32.
10. 2nd Cycle of Accreditation 2015, p. 102.
11. Bengaluru, National Assessment and Accreditation Council (29 December 2022). "Peer Team Report On Institutional Re-Accreditation". Archived from the original on 29 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
12. December 2004, NAAC. "State-wise Alanysis of Accreditation Reports - West Bengal 2004" (PDF). naac.gov.in. 31. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
13. "List of India's Top Science Colleges in 2017 by India Today Group". India Today. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
14. Bandhopadhyay, Durgadas (1960). Jibanananda : Jiban O Kabitar Alochana (in Bengali). Kolkata. p. 59.
15. Rudra, Subrata (1960). Jibanananda : Jiban Aar Sristi (in Bengali). Kolkata: Nath Publishing. p. 942. ISBN   8187095520.

• 2nd Cycle of Accreditation, Vivekananda College (2015). "Self Study Report NAAC 2015" (PDF). vckolkata63.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 July 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2022.

External links

• Vivekananda College - Official website
• University of Calcutta
• University Grants Commission
• National Assessment and Accreditation Council