PRINCIPAL'S DESK

     Dr. Nursadh Ali

Bolpur College was established in 1950 as an institution of higher learning by the generosity of a few large-hearted education-loving men of the locality. According to the West Bengal District Gazetteers: Birbhum (1975) ‘Bolpur College was established in the year 1950 under a scheme drawn up by the Education Department of the Government of West Bengal to provide employment opportunities to college teachers who had immigrated from East Pakistan as refugees as also to provide the evacuee students with opportunities to continue their studies .

Thus the college was founded with a definite purpose in view. Initially, the college conducted Intermediate classes in Arts and Science subjects; gradually, it was given affiliation to conduct classes for B.A. Degree in 1956. The B.Sc. Course was introduced in 1959. Four years later, that is, in 1963-64 the B.Com. Course was introduced. The college became a Government Sponsored college in 1950 under a scheme introduced by the Government of West Bengal. It was first affiliated to Calcutta University, and after the establishment of The University of Burdwan in 1962, the college came under this university. The college has been a co-educational institution from its very inception and is housed in its own buildings situated in a reasonably spacious campus. It has a separate spacious three-storied library building. The college also has its own hostel for minority (male) resident students only.

The college now has eight Arts Departments, five Science Departments and a Commerce Department teaching Honours and General Courses. The General Degree course in Physical Education was added in 2014 and courses in Music and Education in 2015. So, from a small beginning, Bolpur College has evolved to become one of the largest colleges in the district. Birbhum, in the books of the government, is a backward district with a considerable tribal and minority population.  A good portion of the population belongs to backward classes as well. Thus the college was entrusted with the responsibilities of imparting undergraduate education to people who were and are disadvantaged in various ways.

The college faces the challenge of imparting the best possible undergraduate education that is in keeping with national and international standards within the prescribed peripheries of the affiliating university. While the college keeps in view the needs of the local population, its portals are universally open. It is the engaging endeavour of the college to equip its students with knowledge and skills that enable them to get access to opportunities for further education, while also building in them awareness of the socio-political and economic realities and inculcating in them moral, ethical and cultural values rooted in the Indian tradition, thus making them responsible citizens of the emerging globalized world combining tradition with modernity.

This is the second time that Bolpur College is going in for assessment and accreditation by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council, Bangalore. Preparing the Self-Study Report has been an onerous task. Our earliest gratitude is to Shri Chandranath Sinha, Hon’ble Minister, Govt. of West Bengal and President of the Governing Body of the College for his unstinting encouragement. I am also grateful to those whose labour of love hammered the Repot out of the smithy of the soul of Bolpur College.

 

                                                                                                                  Dr. Nursadh Ali

                                                                                                              Principal

                                                                                                                 Bolpur College