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A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Presidency VC Malabika Sarkar at Monday’s programme. Picture by Bishwarup Dutta
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Presidency University on Monday launched an ambitious project to renovate the historic Baker Building with its own funds in the absence of financial help from the state government.
Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam flagged off the project and reminded those who had gathered on the occasion that some of the greatest Indian scientists, including Jagadis Chandra Bose, Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, Satyendra Nath Bose and Meghnad Saha, had worked in the building, which houses the physics, physiology and the geology departments.
“Some of the great minds of the country had worked in the Baker Building laboratory. I am happy to learn that the university authorities have begun its renovation,” Kalam told students while interacting with them at Derozio Building.
The university authorities and the mentor group had sought Rs 50 crore from the state government to renovate Baker Building, which has ceilings so fragile that teachers and students risk injury during classes. But in the state budget last week, the cash-strapped government did not allocate any money for the project.
“The renovated corridor to the main entrance of the building was inaugurated today. The main renovation will start with the repair of the crumbling ceiling and walls, on which damp patches have formed by water seeping through the concrete on the upper floors during monsoon. Although the state government has refused funds, we cannot wait,” said a university official.
On January 29, Metro had highlighted how the physics lab for undergraduate students on the first floor has a net below the ceiling to catch falling chunks and the floor is cracked all over.
More than half the space in the teachers’ room is unusable because of the damaged ceiling. Somak Raychaudhury, the head of Presidency’s physics department, said: “Even the teachers do not have enough space to sit.”
The university authorities fear that if the renovation does not start immediately, it would create the wrong impression among teachers, some of whom have left jobs overseas to join Presidency encouraged by the state government’s grand promises about improving the quality of the institute.
“We can’t afford a flight of faculty. We plan to carry out repairs with a UGC grant we had received last year to maintain buildings. Funds are also being raised through private channels and a part of the corpus will be used for repairs,” said a university official. The UGC last year allotted the university Rs 2 crore for this. We are raising funds through private channels and part of the corpus would be used for repairs,” added the official.
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