West Bengal has continuously been under the grip of dual disasters, the Covid-19 pandemic and Cyclone Amphan, that has led to many losing their jobs with added woes in the lives of those living in the state.
Considering the problems faced by parents to bear the expenses of higher education of their children, Rishi Bankim Chandra College in Naihati has decided to keep their admission fee as low as Re 1 for its undergraduate (UG) courses, the fees of which usually vary from Rs 3,500 to over Rs 11,000 depending upon the subjects. It is probably for the first college in India to have reduced its admission fee to Re 1.
Speaking to News18.com, Principal of the college, Dr Sanjib Kumar Saha said that most applications for the course come from those belonging to poor families. "In Naihati and its adjoining areas, most of the applicants and students come from poor families. We all know how Covid-19 pandemic has ruined the lives of many poor people after they lost their jobs," he said.
“Not only Covid-19, but Cyclone Amphan also hit the rural economy to its worst and left people struggling. Therefore, recently in our governing body meeting, we have all unanimously decided to stand by these people and take the responsibility to reduce the burden of their total admission fee by Re 1 for 21 Under Graduate courses in our college,” he added.
Speaking about the original course fee for the program, he said, “For journalism and microbiology, the course fee is higher but now all come under one bracket of Rs 1. We all know that this will be challenging but we have accepted this challenge looking at the smile on the faces of students who welcomed the decision wholeheartedly. This is a golden opportunity for poor but brilliant students to fulfil their dream to make it big in life.”
The initiative taken by the college authorities was welcomed by the students who termed it as a great decision towards ‘humanity’. The online admission process is currently underway and the merit list will be published on August 17.
Sanjib Ghosh, an applicant who stays at Naihati’s Deulpara area, said that his father worked as a daily wage labourer in Uttar Pradesh but had come back home due to Covid-19 lockdown. “We are facing acute financial problems. This year I have decided not to apply for admission in any college due to admission fees but Rishi Bankim Chandra College came as a saviour for us. I want to pursue my career in microbiology,” he said.
Similarly, Nigamnagar Nigamananda Saraswat Vidyalaya, a school in Coochbehar’s Dinhata area, turned their institutional boundary wall into ‘Wall of Humanity’ by hanging 20 daily need items everyday, starting from clothes, ration, food items, and books for the poor who lost their jobs due to the pandemic.
The school authority also put up a poster on the wall that reads – those who are needy please take one item out of 20 from the ‘Wall of Humanity’.
Acting headmaster of the school, Anirban Nag, said that situation was extemely grim for those who lost their jobs and it continues to get worse everyday. “Poor people are the worst affected and therefore we have decided to turn our school boundary wall into ‘Wall of Humanity’. Every day we are putting twenty packets on the wall containing daily essentials and requesting people to pick one of the items as per their need. We left the wall open for poor people and there is no one who keeps an eye on it as we believe in people's trust. We have found that no one picks more than one packet as requested by us through a small note written on the wall,” he said.
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