Vice Chancellor's Message
I am immensely delighted to welcome you to Vidyasagar University, one of the leading academic institutes in West Bengal, India, located in the outskirts of Midnapore Town, the district headquarter of Midnapore West district. This State University was established in 1981 and has been flourishing steadily with lots of ramifications in academic sphere blending both traditional and modern subjects. I am privileged to start my teaching career at the University level after joining this University on 04.03.1991 in the Department of Zoology as one of the founder batch of teachers and completed a teaching career of more than 32 years of which more than 19 years as Professor of Zoology.
The University is named after Pandit Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, the legendary 19th century pioneering social reformer and the doyen of Indian Renaissance, social activist, litterateur who was dedicated to the cause of the uplift of women and propagation of education to the different strata of the then society.
Since its inception, the University has committed itself to the gamut of teaching and learning in higher education, with the prime objective of rendering value based quality education and providing research and extracurricular activities in the best possible manner. All those efforts have been for spreading alongside the benefit of higher education in an environmentally challenged location (drought prone, lateritic soil, degraded forest and extreme climatic condition) inhabited mostly by poor and marginalised peoples of the society but which has a glorious history of playing a lead role in the freedom struggle of India. The University has registered its growth both qualitatively and quantitatively in terms of academic development, research outcomes and societal interactive process. Post-Graduate studies are conducted not only in 27 departments (14 Science subjects and 13 Arts & Commerce including 5 Language subjects) of the University but also in 33 affiliated colleges /institutions as well. The University also boasts of its 4 Inter-disciplinary Centres namely Centre for Adivasi Studies and Museum, Centre for Environmental Studies, Centre for Life Sciences and Centre for Women’s Studies. The number of affiliated colleges is 59 out of which 8 colleges have been awarded ‘A’ Grade through NAAC accreditation. The subjects offered in the undergraduate colleges cover the traditional subjects as well as modern emerging ones. A few professional colleges providing courses in management and social work also belong to this University circuit.
It is a matter of pride that the prime objective has been achieved to a considerable extent on delivering quality education and knowledge in tune with global sustainable goals both in conventional and non-conventional subjects which are reflected in the success rates of our ex-students in the national and international spheres.
Vidyasagar University has a beautiful sprawling and eco-friendly plastic-free campus which houses administrative departments, post-graduate departments for teaching, learning and research, a Centre for Distance and Online Education (CDOE), expanding hostel buildings for both male and female students, residential accommodation for both teaching and administrative staffs, a sports complex, a student amenity Centre and Extension Centres etc. The University now boasts of being one of the first smart campuses in West Bengal. In consonance with its vision to be a centre of excellence in the areas of teaching and research and other kind of academic activities, Vidyasagar University’s academic structure and Aims and Objectives had been so designed to enhance students’ ability to become highly competent professionals and global players of the future.
The overall achievements of our University during its onward journey enunciating around 40 years back have promoted the University stakeholders to become more confident and determined to promote the spirit of progress in the academic circle of West Bengal and spread the message of quality and human friendly education to other parts of the Country. But this is not the end, it is rather a beginning and we have to undertake hard work and concerted efforts as a Team to achieve bigger goals both in the field of higher education and social reconstruction. Such committed and determined commitments are expected to make Vidyasagar University as one of the pioneering Universities not only in the field of academic and administrative activities but also as a centre of innovative ideas in Teaching, Research and Development.
The faculty members of this University have put in outstanding effort in blending quality research with pedagogic skill. They have made full use of the smart class rooms and have pulled in a substantial amount of research funding through the year. Faculties of several departments were felicitated with awards in recognition of their contribution to teaching and research. Their research endeavours have attracted significant grants from funding agencies for the development of pedagogic and research infrastructure in the campus. The teachers earned international and national recognitions by virtue of their research findings, which have been reflected in their high quality research publications and completed research projects, Our teachers have been granted international and national patents, travelled far and wide on their academic tours to different parts of the world and two faculties have earned rare distinctions by their inclusion among the world’s best scientists . The University has added another feather in its cap by conferment of the award of D. Lit. and D.Sc. to those who are aptly suitable for the same.
It has been decided to celebrate 26th September as Vidyasagar Divas each year. Starting from 2021, the Vidyasagar Purashkar has been conferred to different distinguished personalities widely recognized in their respective fields. The University has also celebrated 75 years of Indian Independence through various year-long programmes. In addition, several internationally acclaimed personalities have delivered the most prestigious Vidyasagar Lecture.
Apart from the Wi-Fi enabled Smart Campus with free internet, Vidyasagar University now is having 13 audio-visual Smart e-Class Rooms, RFID based Wi-Fi enabled Library, PWD compliant campus with assistive technologies, Ragging Free campus, scheduled Bus service and shuttle Car service, Placement Cell and Stress Management Cell, Modern Garbage Disposal System in the campus and Subsidized Meals to the postgraduate students. The only institutional setup for academic research on tribal culture and literature within the varsity system of this state is now located in our campus as an interdisciplinary Centre for Adivasi Studies. It maintains an Adivasi Museum as part of its archival project. It is pertinent to mention that there are a number of remarkable feats that the University achieved such as the Community Radio Station (Betar Vidyasagar), the newly built Mini Indoor Games/Recreation Complex and a Concrete Cricket Pitch dedicated to the students of the University, a proper transport facility, the University Yoga Centre, a Basketball Court etc. Apart from the Automatic Weather Station, a real-time air quality monitoring display board has been installed at the University very recently with active support from the West Bengal Pollution Control Board. Several efforts have also been undertaken to address the problems pertaining to Disaster Management.
Vidyasagar University has been adjudged as the Best Public University for rendering Holistic Education and has been conferred with the Award for Education Eminence 2022 by the News 18 Bangla electronic media. This accomplishment belongs to all members of this University community who have really toiled hard with utmost efficiency to achieve this unique distinction. The NSS Cell of Vidyasagar University has received the State NSS Award from the Government of West Bengal for the 2020-’21 academic session for outstanding performance in the field of community service. Apart from these, Vidyasagar University has celebrated the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ (75 Years of Indian Independence) through various academic, social and cultural events throughout the year to commemorate this very significant occasion. The outcomes of all those activities are expected to be surfaced through publications by the publication cell of this University. The Vidyasagar University has been able to successfully organize both National and Regional Youth Festivals jointly with the Association of Indian Universities (AIU).
Vidyasagar University has been accredited (4th Cycle) by NAAC with B++ Grade (CGPA of 2.79 on a four point scale). The performance of Vidyasagar University has been quite satisfactory and the University is doing consistently good in the NIRF Rankings released by the MHRD. With the continuous all round efforts by the stakeholders (Teaching, Research and Administration), it is expected that this University will certainly be able to become one of the leading Universities of India.
MOU has been signed with internationally acclaimed institutions like the Institute of Ethnography and Anthropology under the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Centre for Adivasi Studies and Museum of Vidyasagar University. It is to be mentioned that the MOU which has been signed at the Bengal Global Business Summit, Kolkata among the researchers of two countries, on the indigenous and tribal studies, will benefit greatly to the academic communities alike. Institutional linkages have also been established for carrying out academic collaborations between Vidyasagar University and University of East Anglia, Norwich, England and Nuremberg University of Music, Germany. Several other MOUs with Foreign Universities are under process.
The Women’s Football Team of Vidyasagar University has emerged as the Champion at the Khelo India University Games 2021 held at Jain University, Bangalore. This is first time that the Women’s Football Team of our University went on to participate in any tournament and have created history by beating Guru Nanak Dev University, Punjab in the final to clinch the title.
The students of Vidyasagar University have been placed in Aurigene Discovery Technologies Limited, Bengaluru in the 2021-’22 session.
The entire community of Vidyasagar University is very much concerned about maintaining the ecological health of the campus which have been reflected to convert a huge chunk of waste land of about 200 acres as the very beginning of the University to a ‘Green Belt’ with the passage of time, with very little emission of atmospheric pollutants, alongside promoting several Green Technology based activities like bioconversion of solid wastes into organic fertilizers, promoting the propagation of pollinators alongside harvesting honey, production of mushroom culture, aquaculture, rain water harvesting, installation of solar panels, maintenance of orchards, maintenance of animal feeding sites etc. Establishment of Psychological Counselling Centre has enabled so many students to combat different kinds of stresses (familial and societal) especially during the stressful times of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The University community expresses their gratitude to Smt. Mamata Banerjee, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Government of West Bengal, for granting a Mini Indoor Games/Recreation Complex for the students of Vidyasagar University which has already been commissioned and named as “P K Banerjee Indoor Games Complex”.
As a Vice-Chancellor of this University I shall try my best to consolidate our strength more judiciously with the aim at achieving a model University Management System by inculcating value based holistic and integrated approaches so that the needs of the students are satisfied and expectations of society are fulfilled.
Professor Susanta Kumar Chakraborty
Vice-Chancellor