Rebuilding Calcutta University: VC Ashutosh Ghosh’s priorities are recruitment, fixing finances, reforms

KOLKATA: When Ashutosh Ghosh took charge as vice-chancellor of University of Calcutta in October, the institution, one of the oldest modern universities in the country, had been headless for three years. Ghosh, previously CU’s head of department of chemistry, is now tasked with breathing new life into one of India’s oldest public universities.

Apart from tackling chronic faculty shortage – several departments are without any faculty at all – administrative gaps and financial stress, he plans to also work toward launching relevant courses, drawing funds and projects and keeping teachers motivated. Edited excerpts from a conversation with Academia360 below.

You took charge after a long period without a regular VC and Calcutta University has been facing faculty shortages and administrative challenges. How are you addressing these issues?

Calcutta University is very old and so one needs to keep in mind that nothing is possible in a day and there can never be a radical change. I need to first find out which areas need immediate attention and how I can do that. Our first priority is faculty recruitment, which we could address to some extent but we need to further work on this. We need to get the NAAC accreditation done [NAAC is National Assessment and Accreditation Council]. Convocation, on hold for a long, long time, finally happened a few days back.

What are your plans for Calcutta University?

We need to attract students and take classes in a proper manner. Every department has its own set of problems. I need to study the lacunae and problems faced by every department, one by one. No one can work on a plan for this. We always want students to not suffer, that they can study and do research. There are some bindings from the UGC [University Grants Commission] and the state government. We need to comply with those. Also, the accounts of the university need to be worked on, there are lacunae in the accounts. There are lacunae in many other areas which I am not saying just now. But those areas need to be addressed and we are trying our best to do that.

Did you have problems with the administrative section?

There will obviously be lacunae in the administrative section. The VC before me was not permanent; it was not possible for him to do everything because he did not have the power. In fact, we have been facing this issue for quite a long time.

A full-time and regular VC is required for the functioning of a university like Calcutta University, otherwise no decision can be taken. I am trying to solve the problems one by one.

Which issue do you think needs to be addressed on priority?

It is very difficult to prioritise. All the problems need to be addressed one by one. Recruitment has to be done parallelly for all the departments. A department where the number of faculty is very low or there is none will naturally get priority so that the department keeps functioning. We need to recruit for the humanities departments. The Bengali department has a lot of students but only six faculties. A department cannot function this way.

We have a department called “Atmospheric Sciences”; it has no faculty. Basically, we have to recruit for such departments immediately. These departments need to start functioning. Also, we need to recruit faculty for the technology departments; if we fail to do that then we will lose the NBA accreditation. The students will suffer. This is what I should work on first. If faculty strength decreases, it becomes very difficult.

Also, we are facing a lot of problems with the finances. We need to keep the teachers motivated, we need to get more projects, it is difficult to do that if we are financially weak.

Students in affiliated colleges can now pursue PhD. Can you please explain how this will work?

Colleges offering Honours with Research already have the required faculty strength and infrastructure. So, we are encouraging affiliated colleges of Calcutta University to also start PhD programmes, wherever feasible, and we will grant permission accordingly. Our Inspector of Colleges is currently collecting data on how many institutions can be included.

Exams were consistently getting delayed in CU.

There are two points I would like to make. Firstly, students had complained that they were getting fewer classes and the syllabus was not being completed before the examinations, which led to some delays. However, the delays were not very significant. Another issue we are currently facing, which we did not anticipate initially, is that CRPF personnel had occupied several colleges even before the election dates were announced. This created difficulties in conducting examinations at those centres. So far, we have managed to overcome many of these challenges and the examinations are continuing. We are delaying the start but the exams will be over in time.

We are trying our best, and if such situations arise again, we will make alternative arrangements to ensure that examinations are completed on time. We are taking all necessary steps, including approaching the Election Commission and seeking assistance from BDOs, the police and other authorities. The colleges have also been very cooperative.

If the start of the exams are delayed, how will you ensure they end on time?

Earlier, we used to conduct theory examinations first, followed by practical exams in multiple batches of about five to six students each. Now we have reversed the process and are conducting the practical exams first, during the time originally scheduled for theory papers.

This gives students additional time to prepare for their theory examinations. Students from the arts stream are also benefiting as they are getting more preparation time. We intend to continue this process for future examinations as well, not just as a temporary measure during the election period.

What is CU’s position on the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP), particularly the multiple entry and exit system?

There is not much difference between the West Bengal State Education Policy and the NEP. However, we have not yet implemented the multiple-entry and multiple-exit structure proposed under NEP. This is something that can be considered at a later stage, and it is not our immediate priority at the moment.

Dropout rates remain a concern in higher education. Do you think the NEP’s multiple entry–exit system could help address this issue?

We first need to analyse the reasons behind the high dropout rates. In many rural areas, girls often drop out due to early marriage, while boys tend to leave their studies to support their families financially. In many cases, they take up family occupations, particularly agriculture, which leads to irregular attendance. As they miss classes and fall behind academically, they find it difficult to cope and eventually discontinue their studies.

Another emerging trend is that some students enrol primarily to avail themselves of scholarships.

After receiving financial support for a year or two through schemes such as the Swami Vivekananda Scholarship, Kanyashree, and other state government scholarships, they drop out. In fact, dropout rates are currently higher among boys than girls.

To reduce dropout rates, we also need to address students’ concerns about employability. Many students ask what opportunities will be available after completing their studies. If we could assure better career prospects, more students might stay focused on their education rather than leaving early for income opportunities.

Earlier, many students from rural Bengal performed very well academically despite financial hardships. Do you think that trend still continues?

You are absolutely right. I was also a student from a village and my father was a farmer. But I always had the conviction that if I studied well, I would succeed. Coming from a remote village, I got the opportunity to study at Presidency College. I believed that education could help me go abroad, pursue research, study science and build a stable career. At that time, we were confident that through education we could become teachers, postmasters or hold other respectable positions. That belief kept us focused and serious about our studies.

Even today, it would not be correct to say that such students no longer exist. There are still many meritorious students from economically-weak rural families, especially in the science stream, who are performing very well despite challenges.

How do you see Calcutta University’s position today compared to 50 years ago as well as institutions such as Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), National Institutes of Technology (NIT) and Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER)?

To compare, you will see, institutions like the IITs, NITs and IISERs receive substantial government funding because they focus on science and technology and offer strong employment prospects to students. Even newer institutions like the IISERs receive significant investment to promote basic science education.

In comparison, traditional universities like Calcutta University, particularly the humanities departments, receive comparatively less targeted funding. However, as a state university, we cannot neglect the humanities and focus only on competing with technical institutions. We have a responsibility to sustain all disciplines.

Financial constraints remain a major challenge for us. Given this reality, I will say, we the teachers and the university must collectively think about how to improve employability for students across departments. We also need to introduce new and relevant courses for employability. A state university must preserve its academic diversity while also finding ways to enhance career opportunities for its students.