University on cards on Asutosh College campus after elections

Kolkata: The three colleges on the Asutosh College campus—Asutosh, Syamaprasad and Jogamaya Devi—might soon become part of a new university, hinted chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday during her visit to her alma mater, Jogamaya Devi College, on Saraswati Puja.Banerjee said if all went well, the process to set up the university would begin after the Assembly elections. She asked the principals of the three colleges to send a written proposal through Kajari Banerjee, governing body president of Jogamaya Devi College.
Asutosh College, affiliated to Calcutta University, has two other units on the campus—Jogamaya Devi College, the morning section, and Syamaprasad College, the evening section. "All three colleges have a rich history and legacy. The chief minister is an alumna of the Asutosh group of colleges. Many famous writers, academics and politicians are among our former students," said Asutosh College principal Manas Kabi. "As the colleges have the ability to perform in the field of higher education, there has been a long-standing demand that the three colleges should come under a new university."Kabi shared their proposal was not to erase the colleges' history. "Our proposal is that a new university be set up, with Asutosh, Syamaprasad and Jogamaya Devi as constituent colleges. This was accepted by the CM. The heads of the three colleges handed the detailed proposal to Kajari on Friday. The CM said she would look into the matter after the elections," said Kabi, highlighting they wanted to start job-oriented and skill-based courses.Also stressing the importance of contemporary and innovative courses, Syamaprasad College principal Apurbo Chakraborty said, "This is a significant achievement and will give us the freedom to design new-age courses." Kabi pointed out the colleges had enough land for expansion. Asutosh College has land in Joka, Jogomaya Devi College in Sonarpur and Shyamaprasad is trying to acquire land. "We have space to construct new buildings and we have other properties. So, infrastructure development will not be a problem. We have proposed new-age courses, including law," he added.But Asutosh Mookerjee's grandson and Syama Prasad Mookerjee's nephew, Justice Chittatosh Mookerjee, feels the identity of the three colleges, with their glorious past, should be kept untouched. "There is a need to ramp up the infrastructure of the existing colleges and universities in the state for the betterment of the quality of education rather than announcing new universities just for the sake of it," he said. Asutosh Ghosh, the VC of affiliating CU, said, "Earlier, several colleges, including Presidency, separated from CU. If these three colleges, too, are separated from the university, it will not affect us much. We, as a university, are trying to make several changes that will help students become ready for the job market." He added there were many facilities for unitary universities, and autonomy was also a major attraction for an upgrade to a university.