-Baishali Mukherjee

The historic Derozio Building at Presidency University (PU), formerly known as Presidency College, is set to become the venue for an interdisciplinary school focused on cutting-edge subjects such as data science and public policy. According to an announcement made on November 22, the school, named in honor of the esteemed scholar Nalini Kanta Brahma, who taught philosophy at the college in the 1940s, will be housed in a lightweight 10,000-square-foot structure, built on the heritage building’s rooftop. The Derozio Building is already home to some of the country’s oldest academic departments, including geology, statistics, chemistry, and economics.

The school will include four classrooms, each capable of seating over 40 students, as well as two computer labs equipped with individual desktops and other essential accessories. The facility will also feature a department library, six faculty offices, and an office for the head of the department. The building will be fully accessible, with disabled-friendly washrooms included in the design, according to officials.

Rupendra Kumar Brahma, the octogenarian son of Nalini Kanta Brahma, has generously contributed Rs 1.13 crore towards the construction of the school, with plans to donate an additional Rs 1.6 crore. According to Registrar Debajyoti Konar, the new school which has been developed as a unique combination of data science and public policy, PU is venturing into new frontiers of policy-making academia, where the department will foster interdisciplinary collaboration among experts in political science, sociology, economics, statistics, and mathematics, giving way to new-age opportunities for research and academic growth.

Kolkata’s showpiece Presidency University — established in 1817 as the Hindoo College by a group of 20 eminent scholars led by the legendary social reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833) — has produced distinguished alumni including, Amartya Sen, J.C. Bose, P.C. Mahalanobis, Ashutosh Mukherjee, Subhash Chandra Bose, Satyendranatha Bose, Pramathesh Barua, Prafulla Chandra Roy, Meghnad Saha, Rajendra Prasad, Satyajit Ray, Aparna Sen, Nabaneeta Deb Sen. 

Additionally, the University of Calcutta is introducing ‘Power BI’ and ‘Power Query’ in the undergraduate economics curriculum under the ‘Skill Enhancement Course’. Over the past few years, the interest among students in studying economics has been declining in the state. Except for a few top colleges and universities, many seats remain vacant year after year. In some colleges, it has been observed that, even after the year’s admission process ended, enrollment in the economics department remained zero. To address this, the university is launching a modern, skill-oriented curriculum that may help in increasing students’ interest in studying economics.

On November 20, a workshop was held with the teachers from colleges affiliated with the University of Calcutta, to create a roadmap about introducing the curriculum and spreading awareness about the same among students. Debashis Biswas, the inspector of colleges under the University of Calcutta, and also an economics teacher, mentioned that it is necessary to include subjects in the economics curriculum that will help in creating employment opportunities. 

Also read: Presidency University, Kolkata, West Bengal