Introduction to the College
Bhatter College, Dantan is s an undergraduate, co-educational college situated at Dantan, a rural centre in the district of Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal (Coordinates: 21.933947°N, 87.279402°E) on the South-western border between West Bengal and Orissa. The college is located amidst very charming sylvan natural setting with the river Subarnarekha flowing past the region on the western side. The region beyond the river on the western side is Jungle Mahal with thick forests and tribal resources. The Bay of Bengal lies about 50 kms away from Dantan. Locate the College in Google Map.
The climate in Dantan follows a hot-tropical monsoon pattern with highs in the mid 40s°C in the summer (generally April to June), mid 30s°C during the monsoon season (June to August) and low 30s°C for most of the other times of the year. Winters (December to January) are usually mild with lows in the 10s°C and high in the low to mid 20s°C. Most of the precipitation is from the southeast monsoon which may bring in excess of 1500 mm of rainfall. Tornadoes are relatively rare in West Bengal, but one did occur on March 24, 1998 killing over 250 near Dantan.
A little History about Dantan
It has been established that modern-day Dantan is actually the contracted region of the ancient kingdom of Dandabhulti dating from 6th century AD. The archaeological findings of the Moghalmari Buddhist Monastery, the largest of its kind in West Bengal, few ancient settlement sites and numerous artefacts point to its rich past spanning over 600 years (6th-12th century AD). But because of its strategic position the area turned into a frequent battle ground afterwards and the entire region sank into deprivation and degradation with the establishment of the British rule. Modern-day Dantan started to rise after the Independence, and the establishment of Bhatter College was a part of that process.
Foundation of Bhatter College, Dantan
The college was established on 5th December, 1963 with the help of Sri Mathuranth Bhatter, a noted businessman and social worker of Dantan who donated Rs.1,01,101.00 for its construction. The College was named after his great family. Moreover, the people of this locality keenly interested in higher education, also collected donations from various comers for further development of the college. Miss Ava Maity and Sri Prodyot Kumar Mohanty were the President and Secretary of the first Governing Body of this College respectively. Among other members of the G.B. the role of Late Charu Chandra Mohanty, Late Dasarathi Pati, Late Devendra Nath Das, Sankar Prasad Roy the then B.D.O. Dantan Block, Sri Narendra Nath Biswas, Dayalal Pujara was really worth mentioning. Sri Narendra Nath Biswas was the first acting Principal of the college.
The professed mission of the college is to follow the Upanishadic principle “Satyam Jnanam Anantam”, that is, the pursuit of truth, knowledge and infinite within the compass of life finite and transient.
Aims and Objectives
The college is situated in rural area covering three rural blocks wherein the bulk of population consists of S.C., S.T., O.B.C. and socially and economically weaker section. Majority of students belong to 1st generation learners. Hence the primary objective of the college has been to cater to the need of Higher Education for the people of this rural belt. Side by side the vision of the college has been to evolve a system through which students could get some technical knowledge as well as other vocational training through which they could become job worthy.
Category and UGC Recognition
Ours is a grant-in–aid type of co-educational college affiliated to the University of Vidysagar (previously to the University of Calcutta), West Bengal and enjoys UGC recognition under 2(f) since 1963. It has been accredited by NAAC as an ‘B+’ grade College in 2006 and under under 12B since 2006.
The College has an efficient administrative structure that provides for internal co-ordinating and monitoring mechanisms. The Governing Body is formed following the rules of the Government of West Bengal and the affiliating University on the basis of election at the local level and selection at the governmental and university levels. The Governing Body exercises final administrative powers and is responsible for determining polices and overseeing development, appointing staff, arranging for annual audit of accounts and passing the annual budget and controlling all otheraspects of the college governance. All the teachers are members of the Teachers’ Council and they serve actively on various committees to facilitate the smooth running of the administration. Quality assurance mechanisms have been initiated through the IQAC. Welfare measures for employees are catered through registered bodies like the Cooperative Credit Society and the College Provident Fund Trust.
We offer 11 (eleven) under-graduate Honours courses; 10 (ten) under the Faculty of Arts, 01 (one) under the Faculty of Commerce. It runs 03 (three) UG Genral course: B.A General, B.Com General and B.Sc General. Besides this, it offers Physical Education as a General Subject. It offers M.A in Rural Management. The College runs 08 Post-graduate Courses in Bengali, English, Sanskrit, Education, Political Science, Music, Geography, Environmental Studies in affiliation with the Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata via Distance Mode. All these courses are available to boys and girls. The college offers three Certificate Courses. It also offers ...short-time Certificate Courses: 02 (two) from the Department of English, 01 (one) from its Computer Centre, ....under Community College Scheme and 10 (ten) Modular courses under NCVT. The college has set up an ITI for the local youth where 02 (two) Trades (Fitter and Electrician) are available.
Student Strength and Nature
The College has an enrolment of nearly 2674 student s enrolled during the current academic year (2014-15) and has good results in the university examinations for all the departments with a number of first classes each year. Most of the students are first-generation learners and many belong to the socio-economically disadvantaged sections of the society, SC/ST/OBC categories. A very encouraging is trend is the steady rise in their number. Girls students are emerging in significant number.
The under-graduate courses are run on an annual system and the university examinations are held at the end of each academic session for three years (1+1+1system). The post-graduate course in Rural Management is 2-year 4-semester long. The PG courses on Distance Mode follow 2-year annual system. The college arranges for unit tests, semester-exams, tutorial and remedial classes. Special theoretical and practical classes are held for the benefit of the students. For project work in post-graduate courses students visit, and sometimes work in, different research institutions. Traditional, as also innovative teaching methods are followed for class-room teaching making adequate use of ICT. Student seminars and debates are arranged to improve their knowledge base and communication skills. Steps are taken to increase social awareness and foster personality growth and all-round development. The NSS unit of the College, which works in close collaboration with that of Vidyasagar University, renders dedicated service to the College and to the community at large (especially through their developmental activities in a nearby villages adopted by the College).
The college (having 40468.6 sq. mts of total area and with 7,500 sq. mts of built-up area) operates in several buildings. The College Office is fully computerized. Almost all the departments have separate and dedicated departmental offices, libraries, laboratories and honours classrooms with ICT facility attached to the department. It has a separate building for the Central Library which is under the supervision of a full-time librarian. It has a Computer Centre, auditorium, seminar hall, an outdoor stadium and an indoor stadium (under construction), an open stage, canteen, separate students’ union office, Boys and Girls Common Rooms, vehicle shade, three playgrounds, garden, parks and a pond. The ITI has a separate building. There are two hostels—one for boys and one for girls. The college has a separate electric connection with a dedicated transformer to handle the load. There are two diesel generators as power back-up system for the entire college, several inverters, inter-com facilities and broadband internet connection in all departments of the college. Staff and students have free access to internet connectivity. There is a students’ support centre which has machines photocopy of documents.
Research, Consultancy and Extension
Full-time teachers are actively engaged in research. There is one Major Research Project of the UGC is running and two Minor Research Projects have been completed. Besides, the college sponsors researches and surveys on topics/issues of local importance. The college participated and sponsored the last phase of excavation of a 6th Century Buddhist Monastic site at Dantan and contributed to the research of Prof. Sylvia Herrman, Leibniz University, Hannover, Germany in collaboration with the IIT, Kharapur. This research culture enhances the quality of teaching and motivates the students. The teachers and students are engaged in various kinds of extension activites throughout the year.
Because of its marginalized location, the college has not been able to establish substantial linkages with industry, other institution and foreign agencies. Recently it has become a Member of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and it will try to establish links with industry through this platform. However, it has signed MoU with Consultree, Kolkata and Livesoft, Calcutta for consultancy services and trainings programmes.
Bhatter College is the only institutions in West Bengal to have set up an ITI for the local youth. It is the first institution in West Bengal that organizes a Book Fair for the school children, students of the institution and the local people with the aim of spreading the light of knowledge. It is also the first college in West Bengal to have undertaken Open Access initiatives for publishing online journals and magazines and portals for scholarly communication and dissemination.