Durgapur Government College

Established on 15 September 1970 Durgapur Govt. College, affiliated to the University of Burdwan, is the only government college not only in the home district of Burdwan, but also in the neighbouring districts of Bankura, Purulia and Birbhum. It is a college fully funded and administered by the Government of West Bengal. Direct administrative control lies with the Director of Public Instruction, Higher Education Directorate, Government of West Bengal.

The college offers 3-year under-graduate degree courses in Arts, Science and Commerce as well as Post Graduate courses in Geology and Conservation Biology.

Brief history

The Government of West Bengal established Durgapur Government College during the time of the genesis of Durgapur itself, an industrial town that was being built around a host of large and medium scale industries in the public and private sectors (and the ancillaries thereof) like the Durgapur Steel Plant, Alloy Steel Plant, Mining and Allied Machinery Corporation, Durgapur Projects Limited, Phillips Carbon Black Limited, Alstom etc. With the settlement of many thousands of industrial workers of all ranks in Durgapur, the need was felt for a Higher Education Institution that would offer to prospective students General Degree Courses and it was to meet this demand that the College was established.

Objectives

The College is a Government institution and as such it provides to the disadvantaged sections of the society all benefits due to them as stipulated by the Government which include seat reservation for members the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Physically Challenged as well as free-studentship (full and partial) for students coming from economically impoverished families. The College has full-fledged NCC and NSS units that periodically conduct programmes through which issues of Community and National Development, Ecology and Environment are dealt with. The College has a Career and Placement Training Cell that provides students with information regarding employment opportunities and assists them to develop soft skills required by the job-market. As the College is committed to provide to all its students and employees an environment that is gender equitable, it has a Cell for Gender Sensitization and Sexual Harassment Protection that works towards the achievement of such goals.

Achievements

Students of this institution excel in the university examinations every year. A significantly large number of students passing out of Durgapur Government College achieve fame for the institution by excelling in higher studies.^{[citation needed]}

Student Support Systems

Library

The College Central Library is an asset of the institution. A separate building with over 60,000 books, journals & periodicals and internet facility, the library is the proud possession of this College. Besides the central library, each department offers books and journals to the departmental Honours and Post Graduate students through the departmental Seminar Library.

Laboratory

The college has well-equipped laboratories with all the science departments, as well as with the PG Department of Geology.

Chemistry Lab. Physics Lab. DMLP Microscope at Geology Dept.

Computers

Computer facility is available in almost all the science departments, as well as in the Library. A separate computer lab is present at the Department of Geology, where the terminals are interconnected by LAN. Broadband internet facility is provided to the teachers and the students by the Library computers. Computer lab, Geology Dept. Computer lab, Chemistry Dept.

Common Room

There are separate common rooms for the girls and boys students, both equipped with various indoor games facilities. Several journals, magazines and newspapers are subscribed to and kept in the common rooms for the use of students.

Canteen

One centralized Canteen, with a separate canteen building located in the college premises provide tiffin, snacks and lunch to the students at subsidized rate.

Gymnasium

The College has a centralized multi-gym facility for the use and benefit of its students. Students are regularly encouraged to make use of the gymnasium facilities so that physical health is ensured alongside development of the mind.

Students' Union

The Students’Union of the College, consisting of elected students-members, is a representative body of all the students including the postgraduate students. The election to the Union is held every year following proper norms. The Students’Union shoulders the responsibility of publishing the College Magazine (SHAMIDH) and a wall magazine (UNMESH). It promotes many activities relating to the students’ welfare, Annual social function, Fresher’s welcome, Annual college exhibition and development of the college. Students taking admission in this college are encouraged to participate in the various cultural and extracurricular activities that the Students’ Union organizes from time to time. Students’ Union actively organizes a Career Fest and an excellent Annual Exhibition on academic matters. Students’ Union also actively cooperates with the College Authority to organize the Annual Athletic Meet. The body also organizes the extremely popular Annual Social Function and the Fresher’s Welcome. There is a Consumers’ Co-operative organized by the Students’ Union to supply books and stationery to the students at subsidized rates. Students can also avail of Xerox and Pay – Phone facilities provided by the Co-operative.

College Journal

Durgapur Government College publishes an academic journal titled Communique, which has been received with acclaim by the academic fraternity. The journal provides members of the staff and students a platform to engage with various academic /intellectual issues with a spirit of enquiry. ‘Communique’ is indeed a perfect showcase of the considerable research and academic activity that is carried on at Durgapur Government College. The Department of Geology publishes its own academic journal titled ‘Geolozine’ and it serves as a medium through which to present cutting-edge geological research as conducted by the faculties, researchers and students of the department.

M.Sc. Course in Geology

The Department of Geology offers two years full time M.Sc. in Geology under the Burdwan University. The course was introduced in 1983 with an intake capacity of 10 and at present the intake capacity is 20. The criteria and procedure for admission to this course is as per the rules and guidelines framed by the University of Burdwan and are notified at appropriate time More than 95% students of this department are well placed in different government, semi-government and private organizations. Almost all the M. Sc. Final year students (appeared in 2007) got appointed by reputed concerns before completion of their course.

M.Sc. Course in Conservation Biology

This multidisciplinary course has been introduced from the academic session 2007-08 and students with an Honours background in Life Sciences with Chemistry as a combination subject are welcome.

Alumni Association

The alumni association of the College ensures that the college infrastructures are optimally utilized for the benefit of the students and also facilitate employment opportunities among the students. The Alumni Association gives an award named “The student who inspires us most” every year to one of the existing students. There is a separate Alumni Association of the Geology Department which organizes a biennial alumni meet where ex-students and current students exchange views about academic issues and employment opportunities. This association is also instrumental in publishing a journal every alternate year. The Association has placed 22 M.Sc. students in different organizations like Baker Hughes, Rolta India, HCCL, Integrity Geosciences, SWID, Geoservices, SRG Services, Bankura District Rural Development Cell, etc.

Sports & Games

The Physical Education Department with assistance of the students and teachers & other staff members, organizes different games (both indoor and outdoor) and athletic activities. Students of this college are actively participating in the events. This college was runners up in football, table tennis and badminton in the Inter-Govt. College Tournament 2005. In the Athletic section one of its female students of B.Com. 1st year, stood 1st in 200m and 400m race and 3rd in Shot put throw. She was declared Best Sportswoman in Inter-Govt. College Athletic Meet 2006. In the Men’s section the males of B.A 1st Year stood 1st in 200m and 400m race and in Shot Put Throw while a B.A 3rd Yea student stood 2nd in 800m race in Inter-Govt. College Athletic Meet 2006. The institution is proud of their commendable achievements.

Healthy Practices

National Cadet Corps (NCC)

The National Cadet Corps (NCC) wing of the college are particularly active in mobilizing students to take up various personality-building activities, aware them about social responsibilities and train them to become an honest citizen always alert and ready for any social demand. These wings are headed by professionally trained personnel among teachers. Some of our N.C.C. cadets have been selected to 2000 at New Delhi represent the Eastern Zone for the Republic Day parade at Delhi. Their performance is being acknowledged and rated high at the local, State and National levels. Some of the volunteers have received Governor Medal Award. NCC cadets are also getting excellent job opportunities.

National Service Scheme (NSS)

The NSS wing of this college is also very active. Nearly 100 students every year come forward to join NSS and over the year work for the social causes. Different activities include campus-cleaning, aforestation programmes, health awareness activities like AIDS awareness, Polio immunization works etc., literacy programmes and many such important activities. Volunteers also conduct annual ten-day long camps in economically backward areas to inculcate the importance of literacy, creative activities amongst the children and health awareness.

N.S.S. programme of the College educating adult women and school dropouts in slum areas.

Cell for Gender Sensitization and Sexual Harassment Protection

As the College is committed to provide to all its students and employees an environment that is gender equitable, it has a Cell for Gender Sensitization and Sexual Harassment Protection that works towards the achievement of such goals. This cell was constituted along the guidelines prescribed by the honourable Supreme Court of India. The cell aims to inculcate gender sensitivity amongst all the stakeholders of the college.

Grievance Cell

This is a centralized cell to look into the grievances relating to infrastructure, academics and support systems. The mandate of the cell is to address grievances in an efficient and swift manner.

Instrumentation Maintenance Facility (IMF)

Under the Instrumentation Maintenance Facility (IMF) of the UGC the College will receive funds to appoint trained personnel on contract basis for the maintenance of equipment and infrastructure. The focus of this facility is to ensure that the equipments used in various departments and offices of the college are maintained systematically and efficiently.

Workshop organized by IMF unit

Career Planning and Placement Cell

The College has a fully functional Career Planning and Placement Cell, one of the few Colleges in the region to do so. Students are provided guidance in career choice, opportunities for higher education, besides being provided placement opportunities in different organizations and assistance to develop soft skills required by the job-market. Prospective employers are given the opportunity to make presentations for the students and to conduct on-campus interviews leading to placement. Students of this college have already been successful in placement interviews with various organizations. In the last one and a half years, the Cell has managed to provide placement to more 150 students from various disciplines.^{[citation needed]}

Assessment and Accreditation by NAAC

NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) is an autonomous institution established by the UGC (University Grants Commission) in 1994 at Bangalore. It is the mandate of NAAC to assess and evaluate every aspect of the functioning of higher education institutes in India and eventually grade the institutes on the basis of such assessment. The whole exercise is ‘aimed at positive introspection’ and charts the path of future progress of the assessed institutes.

Following a decision taken by the Department of Higher Education, Government of West Bengal, Durgapur Government College volunteered for assessment and accreditation and a three member Peer Team visited the institution to inspect it from 21 March to 23 March 2007. Prof Anjana Murthy, former Vice-Chancellor KSOU, Mysore was the Chairperson of the Peer Team while Prof S. Ramesh, Dean, Faculty of Commerce and Management, PG Centre, Mount Carmel College, Bangalore and Prof D. R. More, Principal, SSC Mahavidyalaya, Kolhapur and Member of the Senate, Shivaji University, Maharashtra were the Member-Coordinator and Member respectively.

The Peer Team carefully studied the Self Study Report of the College (a detailed account of every facet of the working of the College that was submitted to NAAC months before the visit), went through all relevant documents and extensively interacted with all categories of stakeholders of the College including the Principal, Management, Teachers, Students, Non-teaching Staff, Parents and Alumni in order to prepare a comprehensive Report following the guidelines laid down by NAAC.

External links

• College website