Alumni spit venom over partial autonomy of Presidency

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, July 13
THE ALUMNI Association of the Presidency College is up in arms against the state government’s decision to award partial autonomy to the premier institution. Not ready to accept the government ‘benevolence’, the association, which held a special executive committee (EC) meeting on Friday, has resolved to seek chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s intervention in the issue.
On July 9, higher education minister Sudarsan Roychowdhuri had announced in the Assembly that the Presidency College would get only financial and administrative autonomy. The college has been denied academic autonomy and will remain linked to the Calcutta University (CU).
“For over 30 years we have been demanding deemed university status and we refuse to accept partial autonomy for the college. The chief minister, who is a Presidency alumnus, had announced in the Assembly that the college would become autonomous. We will meet him next week with the request to intervene and review the situation,” an EC member of the Presidency College Alumni Association said.
The association, which has 4000 active members, feels that partial autonomy will not contribute to the betterment of the college. It also criticised the recommendation of the seven-member expert committee on the basis of which partial autonomy has been granted. The committee has recommended the creation of chair professors as part of the autonomy deal.
“The Left parties will push its people in these positions. It will not be of any good,” said another EC member.
It is not just active members of the alumni association, but other former students of the college are also upset with the autonomy move.
“Deemed university status is long due for the Presidency. I do not know why it has not been given. I also fail to understand why the government chose to give it partial autonomy. It will not help the college,” said author and college alumni Nobonita Deb Sen.
In fact, academic autonomy is the most coveted thing for many former students. “Without academic autonomy the college can never become a centre of excellence. Calcutta University does not update its syllabus regularly. To become an excellent institution, the college should have been given the independence to frame its own syllabus, exam pattern and method of teaching,” said Sougata Roy, Trinamool Congress leader and an ex-student of the college.
The alumni association will submit a deputation to the chief minister and will explain why they think Presidency should become a deemed university. They will also tell him why partial autonomy will be of no use for the college.
mou.hindustantimes@yahoo.com