Vidyasagar College

Vidyasagar College (Bengali: বিদ্যাসাগর কলেজ) is a premier governmental institute, affiliated to the University of Calcutta,[1] located in North Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The college was founded in 1872 and it was the first private college in India which was purely an Indian-run institution. It was formerly known as Metropolitan Institution. It was named after its founder Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar in 1917. The college offers both post-graduate and under-graduate courses in a number of subjects in the three streams of arts, science and commerce.[2]

This article is about the college in Calcutta founded by Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. For the university founded by the government a century later, see Vidyasagar University.

Vidyasagar College, Kolkata
বিদ্যাসাগর কলেজ
Emblem of Vidyasagar College, Kolkata
Former name
Metropolitan Institution
MottoUpholding the cause of education and nation building
TypePublic
Established1872: Metropolitan Institution
1917: Vidyasagar College
FounderPandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
AffiliationCalcutta University
PrincipalDr. Gautam Kundu
Students3500 (approximate)
Address
Kolkata, West Bengal, India
,
Kolkata
,
West Bengal
,
India

22.5817693°N 88.3661595°E / 22.5817693; 88.3661595
CampusUrban
WebsiteVidyasagar College
Location in Kolkata
Vidyasagar College (India)

History
A 1998 stamp dedicated to the 125th anniversary of Vidyasagar College

Vidyasagar College was founded in the year 1872.[3] The college had its origin in the Calcutta Training School that was founded by Thakurdas Chakraborty in 1859. In 1864, the school came to be known as the Metropolitan Institution. In 1872, the University of Calcutta granted affiliation to the Institution for the First Arts (FA) standard. The birth of the first private and truly secular college in the Presidency of Bengal was hailed as a landmark in the academic and cultural ethos of India. It was the great Indian educationalist and social reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar who was associated with the College from its very inception in 1872. The college is a living monument of the untiring labours of Vidyasagar who is known to be the founder of the college. After the passing away of the founder in 1891, the name, Metropolitan Institute, was changed to Vidyasagar College in 1917. Saradaranjan Ray, who taught Sanskrit and Mathematics, was a professor and principal of the college. His third brother, Muktidaranjan Ray, who taught Mathematics, was also a professor of this college. The 143 years voyage commenced with only 5 departments i.e. Sanskrit, English, Philosophy, Economics, History (General). Since 1917 the College entered a phase of rapid growth which made it expand its academic curriculum by introducing a commerce department in 1922 and a morning section for women in 1931. Some of its famous alumni include Swami Vivekananda, Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray, Keshub Chandra Sen, Acharya Jadunath Sarkar, Ram Manohar Lohia, Jagjivan Ram and many others who made immense contribution in various walks of life. The institution also had the services of such great luminaries as Surendranath Banerjee, Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, Professor Sisir Kumar Bhaduri, Nabin Chandra Vidyaratna and even Rabindranath Tagore in various capacities. The Commerce Department of the college, established in 1922, has the distinction of being the oldest commerce teaching department in India. It had its affiliation up to B.Com. standard in 1928 and attracted students from different parts of India. It was due to the untiring effort of Prof. J.C. Mitra, the then Vice-Principal of the College the Commerce Department made rapid growth in terms of faculty and student strength that a separate wing had to be devoted to commerce teaching.

Campuses

The college has several campuses in Kolkata. The main campus is situated at the 39 Sankar Ghose Lane in College Street. The Bidhan Sarani Campus is connected internally. The Woman and morning section are also connected in the same campus. The college has its third campus at the Salt lake Sector II is specialized for post-graduate courses.[4]

NAAC Accreditation

The college war accredited a "B" grade on the basis of CGPA 2.63, under a four point scale by tht National Assessment and Accreditation Council.[5] In cycle 2 accreditation of 2016, the college was re-accredited a "B++" grade on the basis of CGPA 2.80. [6]

Incidents

Attacks by the Bharatiya Janata Party

A scuffle broke out between student activists from the All India Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Stone pelting incidents have been reported near a college hostel on Bidhan Sarani Street in Kolkata during Amit Shah's Road show on May 2019. BJP workers and supporters shouted "Jai Shri Ram" and "Narendra Modi Zindabad" during the road show. BJP activists locked the doors of the hostel and set up bicycles and motorbikes parked outside on fire.[7] Local news organisation Anandabazar Patrika’s ground report shows stones being hurled inside the premises by people standing outside on the road, wearing saffron coloured “NaMo Again” t-shirts. The footage does not show anyone hrowing stones from inside the campus.[8] In the violence that followed, the BJP workers vandalized the college hostel and destroyed the 200-year-old monument of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.[9]

Notable alumni

Social reformers and philosophers

Freedom fighters

Scientists

Politicians

Film artists and photographers

Literature personalities

Singers

Other personalities

See also

References
  1. "Colleges under CU".
  2. http://www.vidyasagarcollege.edu.in/
  3. About the college
  4. vidyasagarcollege.edu.in/campus
  5. http://218.248.45.211/naac_EC/ShowPdf.aspx?Field1=College&Field2=Vidyasagar+College&Field3=Kolkata&Field4=WB&Field5=Cycle1&Field6=13760
  6. http://218.248.45.211/naac_EC/ShowPdf.aspx?Field1=College&Field2=Vidyasagar+College&Field3=Kolkata&Field4=WB&Field5=Cycle2&Field6=13760
  7. "Kolkata: Clashes break out during Amit Shah's roadshow, Vidyasagar College gate set on fire". Scroll.in. 14 May 2019. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  8. Chaudhuri, Pooja (16 May 2019). "Fact check: Examining BJP's claims about perpetrators of violence at Kolkata's Vidyasagar College". Scroll.in. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  9. "Trinamool congress: Vidyasagar statue broken in Trinamool-BJP violence". The Economic Times. 14 May 2019. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  10. "College History". vec.ac.in.
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