THE CONSTITUTION OF THE POST-GRADUATE DEPARTMENTS OF THE CALCUTTA UNIVERSITY
By R. D. BANERJI
The printed Regulations of the University of Calcutta with Amendments up to 13th August, 1924, give a detailed account of the constitution of the Post-Graduate Departments in chapter XI. These Departments have each of them the following three different parts all of which possess a certain amount of executive functions.
1. The Post-Graduate Council,
2. The Executive Committee and
3. The Boards of Higher Studies.
Each Department whether Science or Arts, possesses its separate council, executive committee and set of boards of higher studies.
The Post-Graduate Council
The Post-Graduate Councils are huge unwieldy bodies consisting of:
1. “All persons appointed teachers for Post-Graduate instruction. Such teachers being members ex-officio.
2. “Four members annually appointed by the Senate.”
3. “Two members annually appointed by the faculties of Arts or Science.”
4. “All heads of Colleges in Calcutta affiliated to the B.A. or B.Sc. standard.”
The Council, whether in Arts or in Science, was so constituted that the members on the teaching staff of the University would always form an absolute majority in it. Let us see in what proportion the members of the teaching staff of the University predominate in the Post-Graduate Council in Arts. According to the Report of the Post-Graduate Reorganisation Committee there are one hundred and thirty-five teachers in the Post-Graduate Department in Arts, including ten University professors and forty-eight part-time lecturers, of whom twenty-five are recruited from the affiliated colleges. Against this army of one hundred and thirty-five men the late Sir Ashutosh Mookerjee placed four nominees of the Senate, two nominees of the Faculty of Arts and the heads of the following colleges;—
1. Bangabasi College,
2. Bethune College,
3. City College,
4. David Hare Training College,
5. Diocesan College,
6. Presidency College,
7. Ripon College,
8. Sanskrit College,
9. Scottish Churches College,
10. Ashutosh College,
11. St. Pauls Cathedral Mission College.
12. St. Xavier’s College,
13. Vidyasagar College.
Thus, according to the scheme of the late Sir Ashutosh Mookerjee nineteen persons were pitched against a compact mass of one hundred and thirty-five teachers (of whom only twenty-five were outsiders, recruited from the affiliated colleges in Calcutta). It must be admitted therefore that the Post-Graduate Council in Arts was designed practically to exclude any exterior influence, whether good or bad. Let us now proceed to examine the functions assigned to this council:—
“The Council mentioned in Section 4 is vested with authority subject to the ultimate control of the Senate (communicated by the Syndicate), to deal with all questions relating to the organisation and management of Post-Graduate teaching in Arts in Calcutta.
“Proceedings of the Council shall be transmitted to the Senate through the Syndicate with such observations, if any, as the Syndicate may deem necessary, and shall be subject the confirmation by the Senate.
“The Council shall report on any subject that may be referred to it by the Senate. Any member, or any number of members, of the Senate may make any recommendation and may propose any regulations for the consideration of the Council. The Senate may, if necessary, direct the Council to review its decision in any matter.”
“Each Council shall meet ordinarily four times a year and on other occasion when convened by the President.
“A special meeting of a Council shall be convened on the requisition of six members.”
In addition to these functions the Post-Graduate Council in Arts passes the budget of that Department, with comments, if any, after receiving it from the Executive Committee or to the Senate, through the Syndicate. It possesses the power of suggesting amendments to the budget. In short, the Post-Graduate Council in Arts is an absolutely unnecessary body, packed with members of the teaching staff of the Post-Graduate Department in Arts, without any real power and was created
