Seats fall vacant, students may seek transfer to Presidency

Updated on: Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Kolkata: A total 21 seats are lying vacant in Presidency College — the state’s most prestigious seat of learning — after three rounds of counselling. The mathematics department is the worst hit with 14 seats vacant.

Calcutta University has asked the college authorities to close admission or go for a fresh drive throwing open opportunities for transfers to students who have already started classes in other government colleges.

The statistics department has three seats vacant, while the chemistry and history departments have two vacancies each.

Calcutta University has declined the college’s proposal to hold another round of counselling in a last ditch attempt to fill up seats. The university has reminded the college that the last date for admissions got over on July 31 and hence the college cannot take in ‘fresh’ candidates any more this year. It can instead advertise its vacant seats and ask candidates who have already taken admission elsewhere to seek admission here only after they have taken a transfer certificate from the college where they have taken admission.

The college has accordingly decided to advertise in both the print and electronic media about its vacant seats. “However, even such candidates who will choose to take a transfer and come to Presidency College, will have to do so by August 28. We cannot allow any college to indefinitely continue its admission process because it disturbs the academic calendar that we had chalked out way back in March,” said CU pro vice chancellor (academic affairs), Dhrubojyoti Chattopadhyay. Students of the college are agitated with the CU stipulation. “We have a long tradition of holding exams and taking students according to a specially formulated merit list. By allowing students from other colleges to take transfers to Presidency College, the university just wants mediocrity to seep into the college. We have requested the principal to take admissions according to the waiting lists that the college had originally prepared,” said Chhandak Chattopadhyay, spokesperson of Independent Consolidation (IC), the opposition union in the college.

The IC organised a rally on the campus and gheraoed the principal for two hours on Tuesday morning. The students also demanded that the college press for academic autonomy from CU, on the lines of St Xavier’s College, immediately. Three years ago, the college was given financial autonomy but academic autonomy has eluded it, despite the fact that chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, himself a former student of the college, backed the idea.

“The principal has assured us that he will immediately write to the director of public instructions (DPI) seeking autonomy,” Chhandak added.

Seats fall vacant, students may seek transfer to Presidency

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