Presidency University: A hope of light but needs a lot of upgradation

The Department of Bengali is one of the oldest Bengali department in the state. It offers undergraduate honours and postgraduate courses. Recently, they have started PhD courses as well. The Bengali department is actively engaged in research in hot topics in literature. The curriculam of Presidency university is most diverse among all other University, colleges in the state. It begins with very basic topics at the first year and ends with very specific research level papers at the final year. The syllabus is so advance that bachelors students can compare themselves with the masters level students after completeing the course. I will mention the bachelor course curriculam in summary: Semester I- Prachin Bangla Sahitya O Bangalir Itihas sandhan, Bangla bhasar itihas o bhasatotto, Semester II- Prak chaitanya juger bangla sahityer itihas, Madhyajuger bangla sahityer itihas o kabyapath, Semester III- Shorosh o soptodosh shotabdir samaj: itihas o chaitanyadeb, Ashtadosh shatabdir samaj sangkriti, changa-alanlkar o prof sangsodhan, Semester IV- Adhunik juger udbhab, gadya o probondho sahitya, kabya-kabitae itihas, natoker itihas o rupbhed, Semester V- Bangla Upanyas, Bangla chotogolpo, Rabindranath, Semester VI- Unish o Bish shataker bangla samaj songskriti o sahitya, bhinna bhasar sahityer itihas o tar obhighat, bharatiya alangkar shatra, sahitya o shilpo. Other than these compulsory courses, there are lot of exceptional elective courses that attracted me more towards joining this prestigious university. Since Presidency University select specific students through their difficult entrance tests, the semester exams should not be difficult for the students, but there are some papers in the course which needs to delt with extra care and attention to get extra marks.

Before admission: Application (PUBDET): Rs. 500 Counselling: Rs. 500 One time fees at the time of admission: Admission and Registration: Rs. 300 Students' Union fee: Rs.900 Sports fee: Rs. 230 Studens' Aid Fund: Rs. 200 Identity Card fee: Rs. 70 Library fee: Rs. 1000 Laboratory fee: Rs. 1000 (only for B.Sc. students except Mathematics and Economics) Total: Rs. 3200 (for B.A., Mathematics and Economics students) and Rs. 4200 (others) Per-semester fees: Tuition fee: Rs. 1000 Examination fee: Rs. 150 The fees are subject to change. One should consult with University website. Although the fees has not been increased in last five years. There is a scholarship for the minorities and BPL card holder students on merit cum means basis: Rs. 1500 for hostelers and Rs. 1000 for day scholars.

There are a lot of events organised by the student union and the University itself, namely Milieu (the annual event), freshers and weekly cultural programme where any student can participate the perform and showcase their talents. There are certian academic programmes as well for school students such as outreach programme, quiz etc. The department organises weekly seminars given by famous personalities all over the world. Students are very much benifited from those programmes. There are two libraries in the campus, one is Arts library and other one is for Science students. The arts library is centralized air conditioned. You can spend your free time reading books or just take rest. Apart from that, there is seminar library in each of departments. All of these libraries contain a huge amount of books on different subjects. I doubt any other University in West Bengal has such a huge collection of new as well as old rare books. There are a lot of sports events organised by the students regularly. There is a huge playground, a basketball court, table tennis room and a badminton court. There are two canteens, four to five coffee/tea shops and you can get various food at very afforable price.

For girls who are meritorious, Presidency University provides rooms at their girls hostel situated at Saltlake two hours alway from the campus. The hostel is newly built and one room accomodate three students. They provide beds, water and electricity at very minimal rate. The meal quality is okayish, but managable at Rs. 1340. For boys, there is a hostel near the campus where the renovation is going on with very slow pace. There are a lot of complaints among the boys students regarding the basic amenities provided at the hostel. The meals are not up to the mark, hygine is not maintained properly. Every year, the hostel reports a lot of cases of dengue and maleria.

1. The reason to choose Presidency University: There are mainly three reason to choose this University. Firstly, it is one of the Autonomuous university in the state. The teachers who teach the course also set the exam question paper, resulting better evaluation of the subject. Secondly, the course work is much more advance than other universities. They offer masters level courses at bachelors level. Also, since there are masters and PhD students in the department, interacting with them provides a lot of insight and practical experience about the subject. Finally, the infrasturce provided by University at afforable price is unbelivable. They provide free hostel to the needy students. And, for girls there is free shuttle service. The other colleges in the state do not provide such facility at all. 2. Other colleges: Apart from that I have applied for admission at Bethune college. But since Presidency University conducts a seprate exam at February and they usually complete the admission at the month of June and I got admitted in the counselling itself, I did not appear for counselling at Bethune college. Since I have got the best possible option at the very begining, I did not look for any other options available. 3. Application process: Presidency University do not conduct entrance test on their own, it is conducted by West Bengal Joint Board and examination is called PUBDET (for Bachelors) and PUMDET (for Masters). You have to keep an eye on the official website for any update on these exam. They usually conduct exam in the month of April or May but the application begins at January or February. The counselling would be conducted by the Joint Board. The application fee is Rs. 500 and if you are selected for counselling, you have to pay Rs. 500 to appear for the counselling. For more updated details, you should check official website of Presidency University and West Bengal Joint Board.

There are 9 faculty members in the department of Bengali: 1. Mafiz Uddin, 2. Sandip Kumar Mandal (HOD), 3. Uttam Kumar Biswas, 4. Mostak Ahamed, 5. Swarupa Bandyopadhyay, 6. Devarati Jana, 7. Ritam Mukherjee, 8. Santi Saren, 9. Shaon Nandi. The teachers in Presidency University is young as well as beings immense experience to the department. Each and every profeesor is specialized in different topics of Bengali literature. Currently, Presidency University provides two types of Bachelor courses, one master course and PhD course. The sturture of the courses are based on semester system. In each semester, there would be a main end semester exam and a mid sem exam with total marks of 50. The exam papers was made very technically and with lot of patience by the teacher, most of the questions would be from whatever taught in the classes but there would be some delightful questions that you have answer on your own. The teachers are very enthusiastic to teach students and they provides a lot of insights to the new students so that they develop love and passion for the subject. They are also involved in Reasearch activities. They reguarly take PhD students and publish papers in famous academic journals. I do not have any persoanl favourite among the teachers, but I won't be that much diplomatic, I have a good relation with Santi madam at personal level. But all the faculties are equally good, friendly and supportive.

Since there is not hostel at the campus and the department closes within 7 to 8 PM. There is nothing to mention about nightlife. But during special ocassions, University remains open till late night. The lights of Presidency University create a dreamy place, the building looks like hogwarts. There is no gym, but there are two or three cafeterias. Two libraries where you can borrow 4 books at a time. Since the libraries are centralised A.C., you can spend your free time here but with silence. You can hang out with your friends in the canteens, girls common room and in the union room. You can play indoor games here. The girls hostel are newly built and comes with all the necessary comodities needed for female students. But for male students, the picture is not that great. They used to complain a lot about the hygine and maintenance of the boys hostel. The locality is crowded and hence safe for all.