Unfair to Cotton College

When the demand was to elevate Cotton College to a university, the Assam government chose to respond by creating a separate Cotton College State University without physical assets that could be counted on to grab some of the assets of Cotton College and to create gratuitous conflict. This is precisely what has happened. And regardless of the fil outcome of such a situation, the present conflict between Cotton College and Cotton College State University is neither desirable nor conducive to a sound academic climate for any of the two entities. The most sensible course of action in order to retain the best elements of Cotton College as they had been for over a century would have been to retain the great institution as a single entity in an elevated form. In fact, the majority of the alumni of Cotton College are of the view that even retaining Cotton College just as it was would have been preferable to creating two entities out of one and engendering a source of unending conflict instead of upgrading a great institution. It is not difficult to anticipate what is likely to go on happening to government grants to Cotton College if a sizeable part of it is diverted for Cotton College State University. We shall probably end up with Cotton College shorn of its reputation and image and a university that fails to take off for lack of the required affiliations. It is perhaps imperative that some legislative measures are put in place to have just one entity—Cotton College elevated to a university—instead of having two warring entities that could destroy each other.