Established in the year 1950, the Barasat Government College is a state government owned college in Barasat of the state of West Bengal. Formerly, the Barasat Government College was affiliated with the University of Calcutta but later came under the West Bengal State University and now it is a National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) accredited with "A" grade & DST-FST sponsored college. The current principal of the college is Dr. Debesh Roy.
The Barasat Government College was established to inculcate an urge for knowledge and enlightenment in the younger generation so that they can be ready to participate in Nation"s development, adding to its welfare, progress, security and environmental protection.
History of Barasat Government College
The Barasat Government College inherits the glorious cultural past of its city, where the renowned author Bankim Chandra Chatterjee was the first Indian Deputy Magistrate of the town. It was the Partition of Bengal that consequently led to the establishment of educational centres and the Barasat Government College was one of them. A substantial section of the uprooted masses depended on formal education for its very subsistence and in 1950 the State Government selected the town of Barasat as the location for a new college. Thus, the Barasat Government College came into effect providing education to all.
The only course offered here was Intermediate Arts but in later 1956, some of the local inhabitants formed the "Govt. College Upgradation Committee for Degree College" to work for the upgradation of the institution to Degree College, and succeeded in establishing an Arts section from 1956-57. Space for a science section could not be immediately found, but the Intermediate course in Biology was started from 1957-58 with practical classes in first floor of one of the buildings.
Departments of Barasat Government College
The Barasat Government College has both an undergraduate and post-graduate degree courses. The undergraduate courses can be further divided into the Bachelor of Arts under which subjects like Bengali, English, History, Political Science, Philosophy and Sanskrit exist. Then there is the degree course for Bachelor of Science under which subjects like Mathematics</b>, Physics, Chemistry, Botany, Zoology, Geography and Economics exist. The post-graduation program of the Barasat Government College provides Master of Science and Master of Arts. Subjects offered under science are Physics, Chemistry, Botany, Zoology and the only subject offered under Arts is Bengali.
Currently the Barasat Government College has nearly 3000 students. Every year, there is a high enrolment of students belonging from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and other minority sections. The girl students occupy more than 50 percent of the seat in the college.