Presidency College, Calcutta

Presidency University, formerly Presidency College, is a public state university located in College Street, Kolkata. Established in 1817 as the ''Hindoo College'', it was later renamed ''Presidency College'' in 1855 and functioned as a leading constituent college under the University of Calcutta. It is widely regarded as one of the oldest and most prestigious places of higher education in India. Alumni of Presidency University include two Nobel laureates, leaders of the Indian Independence Movement, heads of state, Academy Award winners and pioneers in Bengali art and literature playing a pivotal role in shaping modern Indian and Bengal education and intellectual discourse.

In its first cycle as a university, Presidency received "A" grade with a score of 3.04/4.00 by the National Assessment and Accreditation Commission. It has been recognized as a University of National Eminence by the University Grants Commission. It was awarded an "A" grade by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) in June 2024. The university received a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 3.13 out of 4, which is valid for five years.

History

With the creation of the Supreme Court of Calcutta in 1773 many Hindus of Bengal showed an eager interest in learning the English language. David Hare, in collaboration with Raja Radhakanta Deb had already taken steps to introduce English language education in Bengal. Babu Buddinath Mukherjee advanced the introduction of English as a medium of instruction further by enlisting the support of Sir Edward Hyde East, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Fort William, who called a meeting of 'European and Hindu Gentlemen' at his house in May 1816. The purpose of the meeting was to "discuss the proposal to establish an institution for giving a liberal education to the children of the members of the Hindu Community". The proposal was received with unanimous approbation and a donation of over Rs. 100,000 was promised for setting up the new college. The 5 Babus who contributed the most in setting up the college with their donations were - Raja Gopi Mohun Deb of Shovabazar Raj, Maharaja Tej Chandra of Bardhaman Raj, Raja Gopi Mohan Tagore of Pathuriaghata, Babu Joy Krishna Singha of Jorasanko, and Babu Ganga Narayan Das. Raja Ram Mohan Roy showed full support for the scheme, but chose not to come out in support of the proposal publicly for fear of "alarming the prejudices of his orthodox countrymen and thus marring the whole idea".

At first, the classes were held at Gorachand Bysack house called Garanhatta (later renamed 304, Chitpore Road), which was rented by the college. In January 1818 the college moved to 'Feringhi Kamal Bose's house in Chitpore.This building is a historic one because Raja Ram Mohan Roy inaugurated his Brahma Sabha there and Alexander Duff of the Scottish Missionary Board started his educational establishment, the General Assembly's Institution there as well a few years later in 1830. From Chitpore, the college moved to Bowbazar and later to the building that now houses the Sanskrit College on College Street.

Transformation to university

On 19 March 2010, the Government of West Bengal passed the Presidency University Bill, 2009 in the State Legislative Assembly. On 7 July 2010, the then Governor of West Bengal, M. K. Narayanan gave his assent to the Presidency University Bill. On 23 July 2010, the Government of West Bengal published the gazette notification completing all the legal formalities for presidency to become a full university. Amiya Bagchi was given the responsibility of chairing a committee set up to select and appoint the first vice-chancellor of the university.
Amita Chatterjee, a retired professor of philosophy at Jadavpur University, was appointed as the first Vice-Chancellor of Presidency University on 5 October 2010.

In 2011, Higher Education Minister Bratya Basu suggested that a mentor group, along the lines of the Nalanda mentor group, would be formed to oversee the work of the university. At the beginning of June 2011, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, announced that a committee would be formed with Amartya Sen as its chief mentor and Harvard-based Sugata Bose as its chairman to oversee the running of the college and perform the task of appointing all its officials and faculty members. The Presidency mentor group
also includes as its members 2019 Economics Nobel Prize winner Abhijit Banerjee, Ashoke Sen, Sabyasachi Bhattacharya, Nayanjot Lahiri, Himadri Pakrashi, Rahul Mukerjee and Isher Judge Ahluwalia, Swapan Kumar Chakravorty. Sukanta Chaudhuri resigned from the committee in 2012.

The entrance of the campus is marked with a small guardhouse on the left. On the wall of the guard room is a plaque dedicated to durwan (guard) Ram Eqbal Singh, who died defending the institute from rioters. The university held its bicentenary celebrations in 2017.

Organisation structure

Governance

Like every state university in West Bengal, Presidency University is headed by the chancellor, who is the Governor of West Bengal. The vice-chancellor is the academic and administrative head of the institution. The post of the vice-chancellor replaced that of the principal after Presidency College received university status. Professor Anuradha Lohia was the first permanent vice-chancellor of the institution. The current Registrar of the university is Dr. Debajyoti Konar.

The Controller of Examinations, the Chief Librarian, the Finance officer and the Dean of students, along with the Dean of Arts and the Dean of Sciences, are the other important office holders of the university. The university is guided by a mentor group. The Mentor Group is chaired by Sugata Bose, the Gardiner Professor of Oceanic History and Affairs at Harvard University. Nobel Laureate and economist Amartya Sen serves as the Advisor to the chair.

Principals of Presidency College

Departments

In academics, the university consists of two faculties – the Faculty of Natural and Mathematical Sciences and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Both Faculties are headed by deans. A total of 16 departments function under the university. They are: Bengali, English, Hindi, History, Performing Arts, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, Life Sciences, Chemistry, Economics, Geography, Geology, Mathematics, Physics and Statistics.

Vice-chancellors

Rankings

During its tenure as a college, formal national ranking systems like the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) were not in place. However different news outlets ranked ''Presidency college'' as one of the leading institutes for humanities and natural sciences.

Presidency University, Kolkata was in the inaugural list of the top 50 institutions in the National Institutional Ranking Framework(NIRF) in 2016. In 2025, the university was ranked 124 in Asian University Rankings - Southern Asia. The university was ranked 151-200 overall in India by the NIRF (National Institutional Ranking Framework) in 2024.

Notable alumni

Alumni of Presidency University include two Nobel Laureates in Economics, leaders of the Indian Independence Movement, heads of state, Academy Award winners, academicians and pioneers in Bengali renaissance.

References

External links

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19th century in Kolkata
Academic institutions associated with the Bengal Renaissance
Educational institutions established in 1817
1817 establishments in British India
Universities in Kolkata
Hindu universities and colleges