introduction
Chandernagore College is one of the foremost Government Colleges of West Bengal. Situated on the promenade that
extends along the west bank of the River Hooghly, Chandernagore College has a long and glorious history. Set in
a lush green natural environment, it is an amalgamation of cultures French and Indian.
Chandernagore College consist of
- Heritage Building (built by the French)
- Academic and Administrative Building (5 storied building block)
- Gurudev Bhaban (3 storied building block)
- Girls Hostel (3 storied building block)
To fulfil the changing demand of modern academic era and to promote effective teaching-learning process,
the College has always given emphasis on the creation and up-gradation of infrastructures. To create
new infrastructure, the College utilizes funds provided by the State Government and different other
funding agencies such as the UGC, RUSA 2.0 Project. The funds are spent to renovate the College buildings,
classrooms, laboratories and library from time to time, wherever required.
The College takes pride in being a differently-abled friendly campus with new ramps, elevators and special
washrooms added to the building. The College has a Girls Hostel, medical support system (along with a sick room),
gymnasium, parking lot and a playground. The College has taken measure to address the need for vigilance and
security. The campus is CCTV-enabled to the safety requirements of well-endowed and equipped campus receiving
a huge footfall. The process of teaching-learning at Chandernagore College is supplemented by round-the-year
activities like seminars, symposia, film shows, study tours, cultural events and of course a vibrant and
disciplined campus life.
Buildings
This five storied building block was the first constructed building after the Heritage Building of this
College which was constructed in phases over six decades. Both for the Academic and Administrative work,
this building is very important as it houses a number of Departments, their classrooms, laboratories,
the Principal’s Office and the College Office. After the shifting of the Social Science and Language Departments,
the Commerce Department and eight Laboratory based Science Departments are housed in this building. With the
funding of the RUSA 2.0 project, an elevator and a ramp has been constructed in this building to facilitate the
movements of the physically disabled students and teachers.
The Heritage Building of Chandernagore College built in 1862 by the French was a riverside pleasure
villa converted into an Educational Institution. This villa, a fine single-storey building with
neoclassical architectural features has a chequered history, from its origin as a Catholic Missionary
School to its present form.The Heritage Building has been declared a Heritage site by the Heritage
Commission of West Bengal vide/Notice no. 240/N-1/ WBHC/ 2009-2010 dated 20-04-2010. However, at
present this 200 years old building is in bad shape and it is of utmost necessity to restore the
building. Keeping in mind the immense value of the Heritage Building and to avoid any accident,
Chandernagore College authority has taken initiative to repair and renovate the dilapidated Heritage
Building. Repair and renovation work of the Heritage Building has already been started with the funding
of the Department of Higher Education, Government of West Bengal, under the supervision of PWD and all
care are taken so that the Heritage Building can be restored with its original features.
The plot where Gurudev Bhavan, the second campus of Chandernagore College has been constructed, originally there
was a huge Colonial mansion known as “Jahnabi Nivas”. Chandernagore and Kabiguru Rabindranath Tagore shared a
strong mutual connection and he visited Chandernagore innumerable times. Chandernagore witnessed the final visit
of Tagore in 1937, in an invitation to inaugurate the Bengali Literary Festival, Tagore expressed his desire to
stay for a few days at “Jahnabi Nivas”, which however, remained unfulfilled. In honour of his memory and in
keeping with the historical significance of this land the building of second campus of Chandernagore College is
named as Gurudev Bhavan.
In 2019, Gurudev Bhaban was handed over to the College authority by the Executive Engineer (Social Sector and Electrical),
PWD on 20th September’2019 and classes commenced from September’2019. Gurudev Bhavan of Chandernagore College houses six
Social Science Departments, four Language departments including two Post Graduate Departments (Bengali and French).
Around two thousand students have their regular classes in this building. In the ground floor of the Gurudev Bhavan
there is the Examination Room and there is also a distance learning centre of Netaji Subhas Open University (NSOU)
which caters to approximately 5000 students every weekend.In the first floor of the Gurudev Bhavan there is the
Central Computer Laboratory and the General Staff Room. In the second floor there are eight Departmental Faculty
Rooms including Staff Rooms of the two Post Graduate Departments.
College Indoor Facilities
In 2017, the logistics of the College Office has been changed significantly and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
software has been introduced in the College Office. As a result, all relevant structured data base of students
can be successfully captured and stored. Admission, registration, enrolment and all other allied activities of
students are practiced through online mode. This explicit change, benefitted the students a lot as the online transaction
can be done 24x7 instead of the Office hours limited to 10 to 5 and also their work can be done without being physically
present in the College Office. Personnel involved with student related activities has also benefitted as their work load
has reduced drastically. Though the efficiency parameter of the College Office has improved, there is scope for further
improvisation.
Chandernagore College has an exclusive, well-equipped centrallyair-conditioned Seminar room which is named Charu Chandra Memorial Hall
after the eminent Indian Revolutionary Sri Charu Chandra Roy. He was a Professor of English and also the Director of the College
for a long time. He was widely popular because of his fervent patriotism, towering personality, depth of knowledge and selfless
love for his students. It was because of him the then Mayor of Chandernagore that the long closed College Duplex was finally
re-established on 4th July’1931.
The Seminar room with a seating capacity of 150 people is equipped with audio-visual facilities along with recording facilities
and an excellent sound system. It also features a projector screen, white board and a podium. The Seminar room is used for
conducting seminars, symposia, group discussion, film shows that are held from time to time.
Beside this, the Geography department also has an air-conditioned Conference Room with LCD Projector and is capable of accommodating
15-20 persons.
The Gurudev Bhaban houses the Central Staff Room of the College. In addition to it there are separate faculty/staff room
for each department with a separate unit of Computer Desktop and Printer. The faculty rooms are WI-FI enabled. Here,
the students have personal interaction with the faculty on academic matters. These rooms also provide the faculty with a
peaceful and comfortable place for their academic pursuits.
The College is taking effective measures for modernizing the way of teaching and using modern modes of teaching with
technological aids such as LCD projector, roll-down screens, green boards and podium for faculty. ICT enabled
teaching-learning methods have already been introduced in the Departments of Botany, Zoology and Geography and
will be introduced in most other departments very soon. Digitally equipped Seminar rooms have been prepared in
some of the departments with LCD projectors, laptops, and computers. Many departments are provided with internet
connection for teachers and students. The College is also utilizing funds to improvise the ICT enabled teaching
process in a more effective way. Most of the departments have their own computers with printer and internet facilities.
Most of the departments (Science, Arts & Commerce) have also been provided with Laptop and LCD projectors from University
Grants Commission for betterinteractive lecture sessions in the classrooms.
The College has three Computer Laboratories -
- The Central Computer Laboratory in Gurudev Bhaban
- The Computer Science Departmental Laboratory
- The Mathematics Departmental Laboratory
All the computers in the Centres arewith the latest updated software and hardware. Internet, printing and scanning
facilities are also available through network. Further, each centre is equipped with uninterrupted power backup.
The teaching of information technology and computer based papers is carried out through LCD screens. The Computer
Centres are also available for the students for accessing internet, practice and for preparation of their projects.
All Science, Geography and few Humanities departments have ICT enabled classroom with LCD projectors, computers
along with internet facility for academic purpose of teachers and students.
All Science Departments have separate laboratories dedicated exclusively for each department. Apart from this there
is a common facility Central Laboratory for Zoology, Botany, Chemistry and Environmental Science Departments
which provides access to sophisticated instruments that are used for conducting inter-disciplinary Classes and
performing Laboratory experiments and research in Life Science. Some of the major equipment’s available here are
BOD Incubator, Cooling Centrifuge, Table Top Centrifuge, UV-VIS Spectrophotometer, Gel apparatus and power pack,
colorimeter, pH-meter, Microtome, Hot air oven, Microscopes, Dissecting binocular microscope, Digital Fine Balance etc.
Botanical Museum: Rare and important botanical specimens are exhibited in the Botany Museum of the Department of Botany.
Zoological Museum: Rare and important zoological specimens are exhibited in the Zoology Museum of the Department of Zoology.
RS & GIS Laboratory: The College has a Geographical Information system and Remote Sensing Laboratory (attached to the
Post-graduatedepartment of Geography), with Geomatica and Mapinfo software, satellite Imaging and Aerial Photography which is
one of the unique features among all State Government-run colleges in West Bengal.
Geographic Laboratories: In the Post-graduate Department of Geography, the M.Sc Computer Lab is specially equipped
with software’s like Mapinfo, Geomatica etc. The department has a central equipment laboratory having instruments like
Total Station, GPS, Topographical Maps, Abney Level, Altimeter, Anemometer, Mirror Stereoscope, Overhead Projector, Parallax Bar,
Clinometer, Electric Balance, Epidiascope, Petrological Microscope, Planimeter, RCA Sound Projector, Slide Projector, Telescopic
Alidade, Dumpy Level, Theodolite etc.
There is a College Canteen in the College Campus where food and refreshments are available for teachers as well as students.
Since a healthy body is essential for a healthy mind, the College maintains its own fitness centre which is located
inside the complex of the College campus. Students use the gymnasium for exercise and workout. Despite a rigorous
schedule of classes, they often use their free time to improve their fitness at the gym and also to improve their physique,
especially before sports competitions.
The College has made attempts to make the College campus differently-abled friendly. Ramps and elevators facilitate
the movement of differently abled people within the College building. The College also has washroom for differently
abled students.
The College has a basic health care unit to provide medical support in its campus to provide immediate medical assistance to
needy students and staff members.
The College has an in-house Bookshop being run by as a cheap store. The Bookshop provides books, reference materials and
stationery products to the students. The shop remains open on all working days during College hours.
The College has outsourced a photocopier outlet to provide photocopy, printing, compiling and binding facilities to its
students and staff. The outlet opens on all working days during College hours.
The College has a separate parking lot in the Administrative campus as well as in the second campus Gurudev Bhaban
for students and staff. A staff is deployed to look after the vehicles.
MAINTENANCE OF FACILITIES
The College ensure regular maintenance and upkeep of all infrastructural facilities. The maintenance work is carried
out by trained in-house experts as well as outsourced to appropriate outside agencies. The Head Clerk of the College
office ensures the cleanliness, hygiene, sanitation, water supply, security and stationery condition of the college
and updates the Principal of the Institution about the current / daily state of affairs. Furniture and equipment are
purchased on regular basis as per the requirements. The College has its own fulltime plumber, electrician, sweepers
and gardeners to maintain the lawns and flora of the College.
The College has Laboratory Technical Assistants and a Computer Laboratory Assistant to provide regular support services
in the laboratories. The College awards Annual Maintenance Contracts (AMCs) to external agencies / privatevendors for
the maintenance of Computers, LAN, Server, printer, projectors, scanners and laptop.
The decisions in respect to the proposals for initiating new programmes or activities in the College are taken in the Teachers
Council Meetings. The Routine Committee evaluate the possibilities of rational and optimal use of the time and space available.
They make recommendations periodically about the need for expanding the existing space, remodelling or re-using the existing space.
Further, suggestions are made for the most efficient use of the time frame, keeping in mind the need to balance academics,
co-curricular and extra-curricular activities.
