The Presidency University Bill, 2009, aimed at upgrading the 192-year-old Presidency College, from where Rabindranath Tagore to the who's who of Bengal studied, to a unitary varsity, was introduced in the West Bengal Assembly today and referred to the standing committee.
After Higher Education Minister Sudarshan Roy Chowdhury introduced the bill in the House, Speaker Hasim Abdul Halim said it was referred to the assembly standing committee.
The standing committee would present its report on the bill by the end of the next session of the House, Abdul Halim said. The governing body of Presidency College at its meeting on November three had unanimously resolved that in the present higher education scenario, the institution should be upgraded to a unitary university.
The bill said that it has been found to be expedient to confer the status of university on the government college with a rich heritage to enable it to function more efficiently as a teaching, training and research centre in various branches of learning.
Similarly, the Sidho-Kano-Birsa University Bill, 2009 to provide for the formation of a university was also introduced and referred to the standing committee.