A government-aided college in the city that received the highest possible rating from the national accreditation body has written to the University Grants Commission (UGC) seeking autonomous status and freedom from Calcutta University’s control.
Behala College earned an A++ grade from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) in 2023 — making it one of only four colleges in Bengal to achieve this distinction. The council, in its post-accreditation recommendation, said that the college has the potential to become autonomous and introduce postgraduate courses, particularly in physics, zoology, and geography.
“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...” the council said.
The college sought autonomous status from Calcutta University, to which it is affiliated. Not getting any response, it applied to the UGC for autonomous status in July 2024. But even the UGC has yet to respond. Principal Sharmila Mitra contacted UGC officials on May 23 seeking an update on their application.
Autonomy advantage
Autonomous status would allow Behala College to begin undergraduate admissions immediately after Class XII results are published, rather than waiting for the state’s centralised portal. This timing advantage is crucial — autonomous and private institutions can start their admission process right after board results, while government and aided colleges must wait.
“Over the past two years, admission through the portal starts more than a month after the Plus-II board results,” principal Mitra explained. “The delayed admission is one of the reasons why government-aided colleges like ours are missing out on bright undergraduate students.”
Last year, the centralised portal opened on June 24 — six weeks after board results were published. This year’s portal will open on June 18, still more than a month after results were announced.
Autonomy would also enable the college to introduce new courses more easily and modify syllabi to stay current with industry needs.
Before approaching the UGC directly, Behala College repeatedly sought autonomous status from Calcutta University, to which it is affiliated. Despite multiple attempts since receiving the NAAC recommendation, the principal said, the university has not responded.
“Since we did not receive any response from the university despite repeated attempts, we submitted the online proposal to the UGC seeking autonomy on July 8, 2024,” Mitra said. The college even followed up with the university in October, requesting official comments on their autonomy proposal as per UGC procedure, but received no reply.
Principal Mitra expressed disappointment with the university’s inaction: “That the university has shown no concern for our college, despite it being the only undergraduate college affiliated to Calcutta University with an A++, is very unfortunate.”
CU explanation
When contacted, Calcutta University registrar Debasish Das acknowledged the delay, explaining that the college’s autonomy request needs to be discussed by the university’s syndicate — its highest decision-making body.
“For some reason, this could not be done so far. It can be done in the future,” Das said, declining to comment on whether the university supports the autonomy bid until the matter is formally discussed.
Elite company
Behala College joins an exclusive group with its A++ rating. 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.