Cotton College the challenges ahead
Dr Arup Kr HazarikaCotton College is one of the few institutions in the
country in the pre-partition days earning the name and fame through out the
country. It functioned as a focus of higher education in North Easter Region as
well as a centre of excellence. The college was established in the year 1901
for improving the educational facilities British Assam (now the North East
India). From the inception it played a crucial role in sociocultural and also
in the educational development of the region. It was perhaps the last (Assam
came under British rule only in 1826) of the few trend setter institutions
created in British India. Cotton College, thus, played crucial role in building
up of a great tradition and is still contributing significantly in the field of
higher education and research.
Cotton College today offers undergraduate and postgraduate education in 22
subjects in Humanities, Social Sciences and Pure Sciences. It attracts some of
the best students from the State of Assam and other states and still attracts a
good number of bright scholars to its faculties. It is an institution of state
importance and its importance has been finally recognised by the State
Government.
On the 27th day of May, 1901, Sir Henry Cotton declared the college open at a
meeting of the citizens of Assam convened for the purpose. On the same day
arrived at Guwahati the first principal of Cotton College, Frederick William
Sudmersen, who took up his residence for the time being, at the Dak Bungalow
which later became the principals bungalow. The inaugural function was
attended by leading men of Assam including Manik Chandra Borooah, Raja Prabhat
Chandra Barua of Gauripur and Bhooban Ram Das. Sri Raghunath Chowdhury, the
well-known Assamese poet, sang a song specially composed by him for the
inaugural ceremony and was accompanied by Karmavir Nabin Chandra Bardoloi on
the harmonium. The foundation of Cotton College was regarded with mixed
feelings by the European planters, but hailed throughout Assam, because it
marked the fulfillment of a long-cherished aspiration of the people of Assam.
It is, no doubt, as important an event in the history of Assams education as
the establishment of the Guwahati University in 1948. From a wider
point-of-view, the establishment of Cotton College was an assertion of the
concept of one Assam and strengthened the feeling of emotional unity among the
inhabitants of the Valley and the Hills.
The college was located in 1901 in the single-structure building, which now
houses the Chemistry Department and the Girls Common Room. It was a tin house
and by no means, an impressive edifice, but housed in it all the departments of
the college including classrooms, the science laboratory. The principals
office, an examination hall and a library.
The first teaching staff of the college consisted of five members: Principal
Sudmersen B.A. (London) who was also the professor of English literature; Sri
Indu Bhusan Brahmachari, M.A. P.R.S., the, professor of Mathematics and Logic;
Sri Chunilal De, M.A., the professor of Chemistry and Physics; Sri Paresh Nath
Lahiri, M.A. the professor of Sanskrit and History of Greece and Rome and
Maulvi Adu Nasr Muhammad Oheed the professor of Arabic, Persian and
Hindusthani, Prof Oheed was, in addition, the superintendent of the Muslim
hostel.
For decades Cotton College was administered by Britishers as principals. They
by a strange process of logic, tried on preserve this institution as an outpost
of British imperial rule in the country. They were genial men on the individual
plane; what they lamentably missed was an insight into the prevailing mood and
temper of the country. That young minds are rich in responses to just causes,
they however failed to understand. By their refusal to accord permission to
students to receive and welcome our national leaders on the college platform,
the authorities injured the aspirations of the students; in the womb of these
injuries the will to resist and protest was born. It grew into widening circles
with process of the sun.
Over the years the number of enrolment into the various classes of the college
has increased in number. Today Cotton College has about 5000 students in its
rolls. The number of members in the teaching staff has gone up to the limit of
about 240 or so with some posts lying vacant. Now Cotton College can compete
with many high ranking institutions of All India rank. Cotton College has
infrastructure-wise developed to the highest extend. The college has taken up
massive programme to construct multiplex boys and girls hostels with all
modern facilities, students recreation room and professors common rooms with
all kinds of facilities. Recently, the college has been short listed as a
college with potential excellence, which will benefit the institution with Rs.
60 lacs. Many of the Sciences Departments are sponsored by the FIST programme
of Department of Science and Technology of Government of India. The college has
also set up a placement cell, through which many
multinational companies have knocked on the door of Cotton College to find out
gems for their benefits. Already 74 graduates from various department of his
college have been recruited.
Apart from this, the present Minister of Higher Education, Sri Ripun Borah
along with the Directorate of Higher Education has taken full initiative and
asked the premier institution to make the ideal road map for near future.
Accordingly, the teachers of Cotton College under the dynamic leadership of the
present principal Dr I K Bhattacharya have planned a bright future for Cotton
college. This new road map includes many new buildings and of course
introduction of many new courses like M.Phil, Biotechnology, Biochemistry, BCA
and many other certificate courses.
Cotton College has been marching forward towards its 106th foundation day and
the very declaration of the then President India in 1992 to consider Cotton
College as a center of excellence would have been a matter of pride and
prestige to the students, teachers and people of all section of Assam and
North-east as a whole.
Of late, it is learnt from the college authorities that the present government
is taking steps and schemes to make the college a Deemed University. The
college authorities are also trying their best to avail the opportunity at the
earliest.
The deemed university status is conferred on colleges by the University Grant
Commission under Section 3 of the UGC Act, based on quality and other
parameters. The status is subject to a periodical review. Once they get the
status, these universities do not need to report to the State Government or a
university on academic and administrative matters. The academic monitoring is
done directly by the UGC.
(Published on the occasion of 106th foundation day of Cotton College).
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