Deba Prasad Misra
(Retired Head, Dept. of English, Bhattadev University)
Dr Jyotishmoy Bora
(Associate Professor & Head, Dept. of Geography)
Dr Akshay Kumar Haloi
(Associate Professor, Dept. of Zoology, Bhattadev University)
Bajali College, Pathsala, was established on August 16, 1955, in the erstwhile Barpeta and undivided Kamrup districts. Presently in Bajali district, it was upgraded into a state university named Bhattadev University after the doyen of illustrious Assamese prose literature, Baikunthanath Bhagawat Bhattacharyya, popularly known as Bhattadev, and the university act received the assent of His Excellency, Governor of Assam, on October 16, 2017. The establishment of Bajali College in the fifties of the last century as a co-educational institute was the culmination of a protracted movement by the unstinted support of the agrarian community of the entire Bajali and its adjoining areas, and the movement for the same was launched under the leadership of an illustrious son of Bajali, Kameswar Das (now late), a gold medallist in Mathematics from Kolkata University and the first Assamese Chairman of the Assam Public Service Commission. Kameswar Das became the founding principal of the college. The initial mission of the college was to spread the ray of higher education in preservation and creation of knowledge and to inculcate scientific temperament among the rural populace, besides providing accessibility of higher education to women of the locality. Already accredited with B++ in its first cycle in 2004 and ‘A’ grade in its second cycle in 2016 by NAAC. Bajali College unequivocally occupied a pride of place among the contemporaneous institutions.
Bhattadev University formally came into being with the joining of Prof. Birinchi Kr. Das, a former Professor and Head, Department of Chemistry, Gauhati University, on June 24, 2019, as its first Vice Chancellor. Bhattadev University inherited postgraduate programmes in four subjects from the erstwhile Bajali College, such as Zoology, Geography, Mathematics and Assamese. The university started the postgraduate programme in physics in the very first year of its inception. The university at present offers undergraduate programmes in nineteen subjects, postgraduate programmes in thirteen subjects, Ph.D. programmes in seventeen subjects and integrated programmes in three subjects like chemistry, Sanskrit and commerce. It is noteworthy to mention here that the university has produced two Ph.D. scholars in Assamese.
Now, a question arises: what does a university stand for? Long ago, the first Prime Minister of Independent India, Pundit J.L. Nehru, opined, ‘A university stands for humanism, for tolerance, for progress, for the adventure of ideas and the search for truth. It stands for the onwards march of the human race towards even higher objectives. If the universities discharge duties adequately, then it is well with the nation and the people. Apart from imparting research of a higher standard, a university has to inculcate moral, social and spiritual values and introduce to the students the ideas of social justice and social service. A university has to provide enough space for the attainment of its fundamental ideas in respect of teaching courses in different disciplines which relate to pursuing research of a high standard. Edward Shils, in his epoch-making book, ‘The Calling of Education’, opined, ‘Knowledge languishes and fades if it is not cultivated by research. Teaching too languishes if it is not sustained by research.’ The university, under the leadership of the first vice chancellor, Prof. B.K. Das, started Ph.D. research programmes in different subjects (w.e.f. 2021). During the tenure of the second vice chancellor, who joined on (07-08-2024), Prof. Dhanapati Deka, a former professor in the Department of Energy at Tezpur University, the university is celebrating its first convocation. Further, the Ph.D. admission of the second batch of students has been completed during his tenure.
Bhattadev University has already completed five years in its glorious history, and as such, it is still in its nascent stage. The university has designed its courses as per its syllabi, adopted a four-year UG programme in alignment with NEP 2020, and also adopted an admission process as per the Samarth Portal. The emblem of the university carries a significance of its own. It has been designed by slightly adding the emblem of Bajali College, ‘An ear of paddy corn’, with a sloka from Bishnu Puran, ‘Sa Vidya Ya Vimuktaye’, which means that ‘knowledge is that which liberates’. The ‘ear of paddy corn’ implies rural prosperity and growth. It is our firm expectation that the new university will pioneer schemes such as teaching and research of very high order in the days to come. The university must not merely be the transmitter of knowledge but also be the active centre of the creation of knowledge in the society. As higher education is the catalytic tool which can mould our society and the nation. So our university, we firmly hope, will meet the changing dynamics of the requirements of society with regard to quality education, innovation and research. Bhattadev University is celebrating its first convocation on March 29 on the university campus. A university convocation, though a celebration of academic achievement and tradition, is one of the most significant events, signifying the successful culmination of years of hard work, dedication and academic growth. It is a symbolic occasion where students officially receive their degrees, and it signifies the end of an academic journey and the beginning of new professional and personal endeavours. The convocation ceremony has also an emotional significance. It certainly represents the moments when students transition from being learners to becoming experts in their fields. It acknowledges their achievements while reinforcing the responsibility that comes with their newly earned credentials. Certainly the first convocation of the university will be a milestone which will acknowledge the hard work, dedication and academic success of our graduates, postgraduates and Ph.D. scholars. The convocation will be accompanied by traditions including procession, academic robes, caps and dressing in regalia. Let us hope that the new university will muster adequate confidence by yielding prospects to cope with the changing times. What is more, by retaining its glorious history of undergraduate education of yesteryears, we hope Bhattadev University will gallop ahead with its futuristic vision as a real centre of excellence not only in the state but also at the national and international levels.