Shailabala Women’s College in Cuttack. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, May 5: The business acumen of city girls may soon get a boost with Shailabala Women’s College likely to start commerce courses at the Plus Two level from the next academic session.

The authorities had submitted a proposal to the state government in this regard during the college’s centenary celebrations last month, which was attended by vice-president Hamid Ansari.

“We hope to get the approval to start commerce classes from this year with an initial intake capacity of 64 students,” said Shailabala principal Roshanara Begum.

The seats would subsequently be increased and commerce courses would be introduced in Plus Three so that students passing out of Plus Two did not have to explore other options. Over 2,500 girls from various parts of the state study at the women’s college.

At present, the college offers higher secondary (Plus Two), undergraduate and postgraduate courses in arts, science and vocational subjects.

Besides regular courses, it also runs two self-financing courses — information technology as fourth elective subject for Plus Two arts and science students and computer science as an honours subject at the Plus Three level.

The authorities said there were proposals to set up a hostel to accommodate 200 general students and another 100-bed hostel for SC/ST students to overcome accommodation issues at the college.

The construction for both hostels is likely to begin in the next couple of months.

The authorities have also written to the state government to fill up teacher vacancies on a priority basis. Of the sanctioned 90 positions, the posts of 43 lecturers and other faculty members are lying vacant.

Shailabala Das, the adopted daughter of freedom fighter and poet Madhusudan Das, established the college in 1913. Intermediate classes started functioning from the premises of Ravenshaw Girls’ School. The school and college were subsequently shifted to a new locality in 1917.

The intermediate women’s college was raised to the status of a first-grade degree college in 1946 and Shailabala Das donated the residential building of her father for the women’s college in 1952.