I heartily welcome you to the website of Kalimpong College,a pioneer co-educational institution in Kalimpong affiliated to the University of North Bengal, Darjeeling. The college is located on the Durpin ridge contiguous to the Rishi Bankim Chandra Park, almost 1km south of the main town in a serene ambience conducive to the academic pursuits.
The college is NAAC accredited with B++ Grade in 2016(Cycle-ll) and was awarded Rs 2 crores for college development programmes under Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) 2.0 Scheme- MHRD.
The collegestarted its journey as an institution of higher learning on and from 12th November 1962 fulfilling the long cherished dream of having an institute of higher education at our own place. Therefore, this institution is the pioneer in addressing the long felt need of higher education of the broader-cross section of the relatively marginalized, underprivileged and backward society of northernmost hilly region of West Bengal. In addition to that, the college also has a good number of students from the Dooars and Terai regions of Bengal, the neighbouring states of Sikkim and North-East India, and also from the independent kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan.
The Alumni of the college have excelled in different fields and comprises of renowned academicians, heads of educational institutions, administrators, successful politicians, lawyers, civil activists, literary figures, sportspersons, businessmen, musicians, dramatists and many other fields, the list of which will be really exhaustive.
The process of establishing this college was initiated by Sri Adhir Ranjan Bose (a great visionary and devoted social activist), the then Principal of Janata College, Kalimpong and under his Chairmanship the college was inaugurated at Basic Training College (now renamed as Kalimpong Government Primary Teachers’ Training Institute) Kalimpong. The classes of 1st Year 3 Years Degree course in Arts then commenced regularly with 23 students and 5 teachers. Sri Indramani Pradhan who taught English was given the duty of Teacher-In-Charge of the college.
The college then had to be shifted to different locations to accommodate the ever increasing number of students till the time the college got its own land and building at the current location in 1982.
The college which started with 3 Years Degree Course in Arts with 23 students and 5 teachers at the beginning is now a multi-stream college offering UG courses in Arts, Science and Commerce and Post Graduate course in Political Science. The college now offers both Honours and general courses in 12 subjects (including BBA – a self financing Honours Course approved by the same university as the college) and only General courses in 7 subjects. The college at present has 64 teaching staff (including 20 SACT Teachers) and 14 non-teaching Staff (including 5 part timers).
The college also has the Indira Gandhi National Open University Learner Support Centre (LSC Code-45019) under Siliguri Regional centre. It Provides Post graduation Courses in 11 subjects, Bachelor of Commerce, Post graduate Diploma Programmes in 9 subjects and Diploma Programme in Women’s Empowerment and Development. The college has multipurpose smart classrooms and one of them is being used as a Civil Service Study Centre for the online coaching classes.
The college has a three storied well equipped Central Library with over 21000 books, many journals and magazines. The library is also linked with e-resources known as e-Shodh Sindhu or INFLIBNET. The students can access more than a lakh books and 4 hundred journals using this e-platform. Besides, the library also has computers with internet facility solely for the use of the students, and audio-visual facility for conducting any kind of academic activities. Furthermore, the library has a magazine archive, online question paper bank and book bank facility for targeted group of students. The library also offers services of photocopying and computer printing at a subsidized rate to the students.
We are proud to state here that the college celebrated its Diamond Jubilee in November 2022 and during its journey of 60 long years it has gone through many difficult periods, some political and some natural, yet the college has never deviated from its goal of educating and uplifting the underprivileged and marginalized section of the society of Kalimpong District and its surrounding regions, neighbouring states and countries.
The Governing Body, the highest administrative body of the college governs the management of the college in compliance with the opinion of the majority of its members.
The Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC),a participative and facilitative unit of the college works very closely with the faculty members of the college and plan out best possible strategies focusing on quality enhancement of the institution.
The Strength of our college is the exemplary bond and mutual respect that exist among the administrative machinery, teaching and non-teaching staff and the students of the college. The college strongly believes in inclusive and participatory management approach and hence all the staff members are involved directly or indirectly in managing the business of the college as a member of various statutory and non-statutory committees and sub-committees of the college.
The NAAC accreditation with Grade B++ in 2016 has amply proved that the college has tremendous potentiality in making itself as one of the premier institutions of higher learning in the near future. Now the college is gearing up for the third cycle of NAAC accreditation.
Kalimpong College provides a safe, caring and inclusive environment where students are encouraged to explore, experiment, investigate and ultimately provide a real, relevant and holistic educationto produce confident young men and women who will be able to lead a life of conviction and purpose.
The college has taken all possible measures to provide basic civic utilities to its stakeholders. The Kalimpong College Alumni Association has installed a heavy-duty Aqua Guard Water Filter with a capacity of 2000lt/hr. Keeping in view the problem of water scarcity and the huge demand of water for sanitation the college has completed its Rainwater and Sanitation Project in its premises with the support of Rotary Clubs of Kelso (Scotland) and Rotary Club of Kalimpong. It is fully operational now.
We are well convinced that the combined effort of college administration, parents, guardians, alumni and all the stakeholders will definitely help to ascertain the brighter future of the college.
Knowledge is the key to success and prosperity, and themain six essential qualities that are key to success are Sincerity, Personal Integrity, Humility, Courtesy, Wisdom and Charity. Therefore, the college,besides the normal teaching also aims at instilling the above qualities among the students and encourage them to be the leader in all walks of life and bring a desirable change in the society. The college fosters an atmosphere of intellectual vigour and rectitude in which the stakeholders may find fulfillment and achieve greatness as eminent youth of society. The college firmly acknowledges the duty it has to deliver for preparing young minds to face challenges of an emerging knowledge-society which is changing at an unprecedented pace.
The Covid-19 pandemic has taught us many difficult lessons. It was devastating at some point of time but has also opened up new ways of communicating and interacting with the learners. The shift towards digital learning and virtual administrative operation have definitely helped the students to continue their studies at a minimum cost and with least interruption. Now the pandemic is well controlled but the online and blended method of teaching will continue to benefit the learners forever. The college is helping students to take part in many online academic programmes and keep them academically active and satisfied.
The system of periodic teacher evaluation done by the students, regular parents teacher meeting, regular supervision by Academic Sub-committee and IQAC and the internal monitoring mechanism for the teacher and administration of the college are some of the regulating mechanism through which the academic ambience is sustained.
As the college is located in the semi-urban hill area and inhabited mostly by Scheduled caste, scheduled Tribe, Minorities and socio-economically weaker section of society, the college has a great task of uplifting them educationally and socio-economically. The task is difficult but we are determined to deliver what is good to transform the society with our perseverance, sincerity, dedication and commitment for value based education.
With Best Wishes,
TIC, Smt. Devi Chhetri,
Associate Professor