Behala College, a state-aided college that received the highest possible rating from the national assessment council has been granted autonomy, freeing it from Calcutta University’s administrative control and allowing it to make independent academic decisions.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has approved autonomous status for Behala College in a letter to the Calcutta University registrar from joint secretary R. Manoj Kumar.
The July 2 letter states: “The commission in its meeting held on 24.06.2025, has approved the recommendation of the standing committee on autonomous college to confer the autonomous status to Behala College affiliated to the University of Calcutta for a period of 10 years from the academic year 2025-26 to 2034-35.”
A former vice-chancellor of Calcutta University conversant with the UGC’s rules and regulations said CU was bound to honour the decision.
The university has been requested to issue the necessary notification within 30 days regarding the grant of autonomous status, with the college required to abide by all UGC regulations for autonomous colleges.
Behala College earned this autonomy after receiving an A++ grade from the National Assessment Accreditation Council (NAAC) in March 2023, making it one of only four colleges in Bengal to attain this distinction. The college applied to the UGC for autonomy in 2024.
Principal Sharmila Mitra contacted UGC officials again on May 23, 2025, seeking an update on the application, as reported by The Telegraph on June 15.
Calcutta University’s officiating vice-chancellor Santa Datta Dey confirmed the university had received the letter and said a decision on granting autonomy would be taken “in due course”.
The other three A++ colleges in Bengal are Swami Vivekananda Centenary College, Rahara (autonomous), Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira, Belur (autonomous), and St Xavier’s College, Calcutta (also autonomous).
Key benefits
The NAAC had recommended autonomy, stating: “It is high time that the college becomes autonomous and starts more PG courses according to the needs of the students, especially in physics, zoology, geography.”
An education department official explained that autonomous status allows the college to design its own curriculum, rather than following the common curriculum drawn by the university’s board of studies for government and government-aided colleges. The college can also decide its own admission process, whether through entrance tests or based on Class XII board marks.
Principal Mitra highlighted a crucial advantage: the college can now begin undergraduate admissions immediately after Class XII results are published, rather than waiting for the state’s centralised portal to open.
“The delay led to concerns that the brighter undergraduate aspirants would have already taken admission in private and autonomous institutions,” Mitra told The Telegraph.
“From next year we will start the admission process immediately after the publication of the plus-II boards,” principal Mitra said.
This year illustrated the problem: while private and autonomous colleges started their admissions in early May after the Class XII results, the state-run portal for government and aided colleges didn’t open until June 18.
In their autonomy proposal to the UGC, the college submitted plans to develop two research cells – one for science students and another for humanities students.
“The students will benefit from the research cells. Another advantage will be that the UGC contributes generously to autonomous colleges,” said Mitra.
A college teacher revealed that before approaching the UGC directly, Behala College had repeatedly sought autonomous status from Calcutta University. Despite multiple attempts since receiving the NAAC recommendation, the university had not responded.
Vice-chancellor Datta Dey explained: “We had taken up their appeal and sought papers from the college, but as more pressing matters came up, the autonomy issue was pushed back.”