Page 61 - EducationWorld May 2021

infrastructure modernisation plan.
When this project is completed within
the next two-three years, we will be
fully qualified for autonomous status.
NEP 2020 has made several excellent
proposals for higher education reform
and development. We intend to take
full advantage of them,” adds Mad-
lani. Currently this college has 6,000
mainly undergrad students mentored
by 70 full-time and 50 visiting faculty
on its muster rolls.
Another arts, science and com-
merce college that is content with
the time window given by NEP 2020
to transform into autonomous HEIs
is the Barrackpore Rastraguru
Surendranath College, West Ben-
gal (BRSC, estb. 1953) which has been
awarded a big promotion in EWHIER Hinduja College’s Dr. Minu Madlani (rear centre right): major modernisation plan
2021-22. Awarded modest national
rankings of #21 in 2018-19 and #18 in known and well-reputed to be listed mind that arts, science and commerce
2019-20, this 67-year-old college has in EWIHER 2021-22 is small — barely colleges that are modestly ranked in
been voted India #11 and #2 in West 127 — because low-profile institutions the national league table may well be
Bengal (pop. 93 million) this year. evaluated by less than 25 sample re- top ranked in their host states. For
Monojit Ray, secretary and CEO spondents are disqualified from in- instance the Sri Agrasen Kanya
of BRSC which has 6,000 students and clusion. The vast majority of India’s P.G. College, Varanasi ranked
156 faculty on its rolls, attributes the 55,000 junior and undergrad colleges #24 nationally is #1 in Uttar Pradesh
rise of the college in the public esteem are modest, non-descript institutions (pop. 215 million), and the Hawaba-
to the management’s quick response tied to the coat-tails of their affiliat- gh Women’s College, Jabalpur
to the Covid-19 crisis. “The farsighted- ing universities. Therefore the annual ranked #65 nationally is top ranked
ness of our Board of Governors who EW league table of the country’s most in Madhya Pradesh (pop.86 million).
gave their full support to introduction reputed non-autonomous colleges In short, all institutions included in
of online classes, and the quick recep- serves the useful purpose of identify- EW’s league table of India’s Top 100
tivity of faculty and students to digital ing the best among them. non-autonomous colleges are head
teaching-learning are the main factors Moreover readers should bear in and shoulders above the rest.
behind the rise of BRSC in the esteem BRSC’s Monojit Ray (left): crisis management success
of the academy and informed public.
Simultaneously we took early and ef-
fective initiatives to introduce health
and safety measures to safeguard
teachers, students and staff by adher-
ing to all ISO 45001:2018 standards
for which we received a certificate in
January 2020 i.e, before imposition of
the nationwide lockdown on March 25,
2020,” says Ray, a chemistry postgrad
of Calcutta University who served as
professor of chemistry at Nabdwip Vi-
dysagar College, Nadia (West Bengal)
for 17 years (1999-2016) before being
appointed principal and controller of
examinations at BRSC.
The number of non-autonomous
colleges that are sufficiently well-

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