University of North Bengal (abbreviated as NBU) is a public state collegiate major research university in North Bengal region of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

, which is located in Raja Rammohanpur,

Siliguri Siliguri, ) is a major tier-II city in West Bengal. It forms twin cities, "Twin Cities" with the neighboring district capital of Jalpaiguri. The city spans areas of the Darjeeling district, Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts in the Indian sta ...

Darjeeling district Darjeeling District is the northernmost district of the state of West Bengal in eastern India in the foothills of the Himalayas. The district is famous for its hill station and Darjeeling tea. Darjeeling is the district headquarters. Kurse ...

, in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n state of

. A second campus is in Danguajhar,

Jalpaiguri Jalpaiguri is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Jalpaiguri district as well as of the Jalpaiguri division of West Bengal, covering the jurisdiction of the five districts of North Bengal. The city is loca ...

Jalpaiguri district Jalpaiguri district () is a district of the Indian state of West Bengal. The district was established in 1869 during British Raj. The headquarters of the district are in the city of Jalpaiguri, which is also the divisional headquarters of No ...

and a third campus is in Salt Lake, Kolkata also in West Bengal. The university was established in 1962 to fill growing manpower needs in the six North Bengal districts and the neighbouring state of

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligur ...

. North Bengal University offers degrees in undergraduate, post-graduate taught-research, doctorate and post doctoral programs.

History

The University of North Bengal was established by Act of the Legislature of West Bengal in 1962. It was the first university in the region. It served predominantly rural areas in six districts:

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal, ...

Cooch Behar Cooch Behar (), or Koch Bihar, is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Cooch Behar district. It is in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas at . Cooch Behar is the only planned city in t ...

, Maldah,

Uttar Dinajpur Uttar Dinajpur () is a district of the Indian state of West Bengal. Created on 1 April 1992 by the division of the erstwhile West Dinajpur district, it comprises two subdivisions: Raiganj and Islampur. History Undivided Dinajpur district ...

and

Dakshin Dinajpur Dakshin Dinajpur () or South Dinajpur is a district in the Indian state of West Bengal, India. It was created on 1 April 1992 by the division of the erstwhile West Dinajpur District. The Headquarter (sadar) of the district is at Balurghat. It ...

. In 2008, the

University of Gour Banga University of Gour Banga is a public state university located in Malda, West Bengal, India. It is one of the newest state universities established in 2008 by the Government of West Bengal on Act XXVI 2007. History The university completed ...

was established and almost all the 28 colleges in Maldah,

and

(with the exception of Raiganj University College) were affiliated to it. In 2012-13,

Cooch Behar Panchanan Barma University Cooch can refer to: * A colloquial term for the vagina * A variation of the surname Couch ** William Cooch (1898–1950), New Zealand artist, architect and stamp designer See also * Cooch Behar (disambiguation) * * Hoochie coochie, a dance *Couch ...

was established with all the colleges of Cooch Behar district and Alipurduar subdivision of Jalpaiguri district affiliated with it. The University of North Bengal has jurisdiction over the districts of

and

. It is accredited by NAAC with B++ grade.

Campus

The main campus is spread over an area of and lies between Siliguri and Bagdogra Airport, in the

Terai The Terai or Tarai is a lowland region in northern India and southern Nepal that lies south of the outer foothills of the Himalayas, the Sivalik Hills, and north of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. This lowland belt is characterised by tall grasslands, scr ...

region. The second campus is in Danguajhar in

. The university has an annual enrollment of more than 36,000 undergraduate and more than 1,500 postgraduate students and scholars. Students come from North Bengal mainly from hills and plain areas. North Bengal University also provide distance education in MA English, Philosophy, Bangla etc.

Organisation and administration

Governance

The Vice-chancellor of the University of North Bengal is the chief executive officer of the university. In 2018 Subiresh Bhattacharya was appointed as Vice-chancellor of the university. In September 2022, followed Bhattacharya arrest, Om Prakash Mishra was appointed interim VC.

Faculties and Departments

University of North Bengal has 30 departments organized into two faculty councils. * Faculty of Science This faculty consists of the departments of Anthropology, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Computer Science and Application, Biotechnology, Bioinformatics, Geography and Applied Geography, Pharmaceutical Technology, Microbiology, Geology, Food Technology, Tea Science, Botany, and Zoology. * Faculty of Arts, Commerce and Law This faculty consists of the departments of Bengali, English, Hindi, Sanskrit, Nepali, History, Political Science, Philosophy, Education, Economics, Sociology, Library and Information Science, Lifelong Learning and Extension, Mass Communication, Law, Commerce and Management.

Centres

The university offers affiliation to research and academic centres on and off-campus. *University Science & Instrumentation Centre *Computer Centre *Centre for Development Studies *Centre for High Energy & Cosmic Ray *Centre for Remote Sensing Application *Centre for Tea Management *Centre for Mass Communication *Centre for Himalayan Studies *Centre for Women's Studies *Center for Social Research *Centre for Studies in Local Language and Culture *Centre for Tourism and Hotel Management *Centre for Marketing Management *Centre for Ambedkar Studies *Centre for Innovative Studies

Affiliations

The university has several affiliated colleges spread over four districts Alipurduar, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, and one sub-division Islampur of North Dinajpur district of North Bengal.

Academics

The University of North Bengal offers three years (B.A./B.Sc./B.Com.) undergraduate degrees and five years B.A. LLB degree on its Law School. It also ofders two-year

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

, M.Com.,

M.Sc. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

, M.C.A., M.Pharm, two-years MPhil and PhD degrees

Accreditation

In 2016 the university has been awarded 'A' grade with CGPA value 3.05 by the

National Assessment and Accreditation Council The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) is a government organisation in India that assesses and accredits Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). It is an autonomous body funded by the University Grants Commission and headquarte ...

Museum

The Akshaya Kumar Maitreya Heritage Museum incorporating the Raja Rajaram Museum Collection was established in the University of North Bengal in February 1965. The museum is now a repository for sculpture, coins, paintings, and manuscripts, among other things, related to the history of North Bengal. It is also a regional museum and is one of the few university museums in India. It collects, preserves and studies archaeological relics discovered regionally.

Notable alumni

* Subhasish Dey, hydraulician and educator * Charu Majumdar, founder of the Communist Party of India * Abdul Karim Chowdhury, Former Minister for Mass Education Extension and Library Services in the Government of West Bengal *

Mahima Chaudhry Mahima Chaudhry is an Indian actress and model who worked in Hindi films. During the 1990s, Chaudhry did a few modelling assignments and appeared in several television commercials before venturing into films. She made her acting debut in the 1997 ...

, Indian actress and model *

Danny Denzongpa Tshering Phintso "Danny" Denzongpa (born 25 February 1948) is an Indian actor, singer and film director who primarily works in Hindi films. He has acted in over 190 films since 1971. In 2003, Denzongpa was awarded the Padma Shree, India's four ...

, Indian actor, singer and film director *

Jyoti Prakash Tamang Professor Dr. Jyoti Prakash Tamang (born 16 November 1961) is an Indian food microbiologist, working on fermented foods and alcoholic beverages of the Himalayan regions of India, Nepal and Bhutan and South East Asia for last 36 years and the Seni ...

, Indian food technologist, microbiologist *

Parthasarathi Chakraborty Parthasarathi Chakraborty is an Indian environmental geochemist, a former senior scientist at the CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography and an associate professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur , India. Chakraborty is known f ...

, Indian environmental geochemist, a former senior scientist * Debkumar Mukhopadhyay, Vice Chancellor of

Prem Singh Tamang Prem Singh Tamang (born 5 February 1968), better known as P. S. Golay, is an Indian politician and the current Chief Minister of Sikkim and founding leader of the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM). Before forming the party, he was a key member of ...

, Chief Minister of Sikkim * Sumana Roy, Indian writer and poet *

Bhim Hang Limboo Bhim Hang Limboo is an Indian politician. He was elected to the Sikkim Legislative Assembly from Yangthang (Vidhan Sabha constituency), Yangthang in the 2019 Sikkim Legislative Assembly election as a member of the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha. He is ...

, Minister of Public Health Engineering of Sikkim * Sabina Yeasmin, Indian Cabinet Minister of State *

Sourav Chakraborty Sourav Chakraborty (born 27 June 1990, in Kolkata) is an Indian footballer who plays as a striker for Mohun Bagan in the I-League. Career Mohun Bagan Sourav started his footballing career with Techno Aryan F.C. as a youth player before joini ...

, Chairman of

Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority or SJDA was established in the year 1980 and has been responsible of Planning & Development of Siliguri - Jalpaiguri Area. It came in existence under the West Bengal Town and Country (Planning & Develo ...

Chokila Iyer Chokila Iyer is an Indian diplomat and civil servant who served as India's first female foreign secretary from March 2001 to June 2002. She is an Indian Foreign Service officer of the 1964 batch and served as the Ambassador of India to the Repu ...

, India's first female foreign secretary * Sreerupa Mitra Chaudhury, social worker, women's rights activist ***

References

External links

*
University Grants CommissionNational Assessment and Accreditation Council
{{DEFAULTSORT:North Bengal Educational institutions established in 1962 Universities and colleges in Darjeeling district Education in Siliguri Education in Jalpaiguri 1962 establishments in West Bengal North Bengal Universities established in the 1960s