BY OUR STAFF REPORTER
Guwahati, March 8: The 116-year old Cotton College on Wednesday became history with the Assam Assembly passing the Cotton University Bill, 2017 to pave the way for creating Cotton University.
State Education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma while thanking all MLAs for passing the bill, said it was a historic moment and the State government will initiate all possible measures to make Cotton University one of the best varsities not only of India but of the world.
“I have a dream to develop Cotton University on the lines of Oxford University for which I will need support and cooperation of all stakeholders. The government will move ahead with open and liberal mind to develop the new university. Funds will not be a constraint to make Cotton University one of the best universities in the country. The university will soon be converted into a centre of excellence,” he said. Justifying the move which was opposed by certain quarters including the Cotton College Union Society (CCUS), Sarma said there were conflicts of interest between Cotton College and Cotton College State University (CCSU) in recent years.
He said a high-powered expert panel constituted by the BJP-led government last year recommended for creation of a single institution of higher education by clubbing both Cotton College and CCSU. The committee concluded that conflicts of interest would not end but rather deepen if Cotton College and CCSU continue to exist as separate entities. This would not have been in the greater interests of students and academic atmosphere of the State.
Cotton College was set up in 1901 by Sir Henry John Stedman Cotton, the then chief commissioner of Assam, while in 2011, the erstwhile Congress government set up Cotton College State University.
Sarma claimed that vice chancellor of Tezpur University Mihir Kanti Chaudhuri who headed the expert panel, is ready to take charge of Cotton University provided the State government pumped in adequate funds to develop it into a centre of excellence. He said the government is ready to provide up to Rs 500 crore to the new university.
Cotton University will be unitary in ture and will enjoy full academic autonomy in preparing syllabus, conducting examitions, evaluation and declaration of results. It will, however, not be empowered to accord affiliation to other colleges and institutions.
The university will have faculties of Arts, Science, Law, Medicine, Technology, Agriculture, Engineering, Commerce, Magement, Mass Communication, Environmental Studies, Indian Fine Arts and such other streams as may be prescribed by statutes.
Meanwhile, the Cotton College Union Society termed today’s development as “most unfortute”, lamenting that Dispur has destroyed the glorious 116-years history of Cotton College by creating Cotton University in its place.
The Education minister also said the government would bring in a new bill in the next Assembly session to make the functioning of Women University and Rajiv Gandhi Cooperative University more effective.