Gauhati University

Summary

Gauhati University also known as GU, is a collegiate public state university located in Guwahati, Assam, India. It was established on 26 January 1948 under the provisions of an Act enacted by the Assam Legislative Assembly and is the oldest university in Northeast India.

Gauhati University
গুৱাহাটী বিশ্ববিদ্যালয
Motto
Vidyayo Sadhayeta
Motto in English
Achievement through Learning/Knowledge
TypePublic state university
Established26 January 1948; 76 years ago (26 January 1948)
Founders
AccreditationNAAC
Academic affiliations
ChancellorGulab Chand Kataria (Governor of Assam)
Vice-ChancellorPratap Jyoti Handique
Academic staff
341 (2018)[1]
Administrative staff
1167 (2018)[1]
Students5411 (2018)[1]
Undergraduates1290 (2018)[2]
Postgraduates3721 (2018)[2]
398 (2018)[2]
Location, ,
26°09′13″N 91°39′48″E / 26.1537°N 91.6634°E / 26.1537; 91.6634
CampusUrban, total 508 acres (2.06 km2)[1]
AcronymGU
Websitewww.gauhati.ac.in

It is accredited grade "A" by National Assessment and Accreditation Council.[3] Starting with 18 affiliated colleges and 8 Post Graduate Departments in 1948, Gauhati University, today, has 39 Post Graduate Departments, besides IDOL (Institute of Distance and Open Learning), a constituent Law and Engineering College. It has 341 affiliated colleges offering undergraduate and post graduate courses in the faculties of Arts, Science, Commerce, Law, Medicine, Engineering and Technology. Gauhati University is a member of the Association of Indian Universities and the Association of Commonwealth Universities.[4]

History edit

Vice-Chancellors edit

  • Krishna Kanta Handique 1947 – 1957
  • Surya Kumar Bhuyan 1957 – 1960
  • H. C. Bhuyan 1960 – 1962
  • Phanidhar Dutta 1962 – 1962
  • Harold John Taylor 1962 – 1965
  • M. N. Goswami 1965 – 1971
  • S. C. Rajkhowa 1971 – 1974
  • H. K. Barua 1974 – 1979
  • J. M. Choudhury 1979 – 1986
  • D. P. Barooah 1986 – 1991
  • N. K. Choudhury 1991 – 1996
  • Hiralal Duarah 1996 – 2001
  • G. N. Talukdar 2001 – 2006
  • Amarjyoti Choudhury 2006 – 2008
  • Okhil Kumar Medhi 2008 – 2013
  • Mridul Hazarika 2013 – 2019
  • Pratap Jyoti Handique 2019 – present
 
Vice-Chancellor K.K Handique at the 1st Convocation of Gauhati University with S Radhakrishnan, the 1st Vice -President of India in 1949

The first public demand was made at the annual session of the Assam Association held at Sivasagar in 1917. In 1940, the Government appointed S. K. Bhuyan as Special Officer with the task of collecting relevant information on the selection of site and related matters.[5] The university was established by an act of the State Legislature: the Gauhati University Act 1947 (Assam Act, XVI of 1947) of the government of Assam in 1948. The first court meeting of the university was held on 26 January 1948, which is considered the foundation day, at the old Sudmerson Hall of Cotton College, Guwahati.[6]

Gauhati University started functioning as an affiliating, teaching and residential university in a few temporary buildings in Guwahati, with K.K Handique as the first vice-chancellor, Phanidhar Dutta, Sailandhar Rajkhowa and Sarat Kumar Dutta were selected as the registrar, treasurer and secretary of university classes, respectively. The emblem of the university, selected from among many submitted, was designed by T. Mukherjee, a textile designer of Ahmedabad. Two Sanskrit words inscribed on it – Vidyaya Sadhayeta (meaning achievement through learning) – indicate the motto of the university.[4] It had 17 affiliated colleges and eight Post Graduate Departments on its establishment.[5] The university which started functioning from the city center was shifted to the present campus in 1955–56.

Campus edit

 
Gauhati University Institute of Science and Technology
 
Entrance to Dr. H.K Baruah Regional Botanical Resource Centre

The university is in Jalukbari in the Guwahati city area. The campus has a hillock on the southern side and the Brahmaputra river flows on the northern side. The campus area has been developed into a small township, now known as 'Gopinath Bardoloi Nagar'. It has about 6000 population including 3700 students residing in the hostels.

Apart from the residential quarters of teachers, officers and employees, there are 22 halls of residence for students. The necessary civic amenities such as health service, water supply, street lighting, internal roads, guest house, post and telegraph office, a branch of the State Bank of India, United Bank Of India, canteens, a market, parks, playgrounds, auditorium, indoor stadium, etc. are on campus.

The university is 10 km from the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport on National Highway No. 37; 5 km from Kamakhya Railway Station; and 10 km from Guwahati Railway Station as well as from the bus stop near the Cachari (D.C. court) at the heart of Guwahati City. The capital complex of Assam at Dispur is 22  km from the university. The university is easily accessible from the Guwahati city; Guwahati has road, rail and air links from all parts of the country. A large number of bus services from parts of Assam have their station at Adabari bus stand which is 2 km from the campus.

To automate their internal processes, Gauhati University has chosen Kalingasoft's flagship Education ERP solution, Greycells. This implementation has resulted in the complete automation of the university's academic, administrative and financial processes.

Library and regional center edit

 
Krishna Kanta Handique Library

The North Eastern Regional Centre (NERC) of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) is in the Gauhati University Central Library Extension Building. Along with Bangalore ICHR Regional Centre, this is the only regional centre in GU so far.

The university's Krishna Kanta Handique Library is a designated 'Manuscript Conservation Centre' (MCC) under the National Mission for Manuscripts established in 2003.[7]

The library is the largest in Assam, holding about 850,000 books, magazines, and journals in its collection. It also hosts about 5,000 valuable priceless manuscripts, some more than 300 years old.[8]

Organisation and administration edit

Governance edit

 
Administrative Building

The G.U. Court, the Executive Council and the Academic Council are the authorities of the university.[9]

In 2019, Professor Pratap Jyoti Handique was appointed as the Vice-Chancellor of the university.[10]

Faculties edit

 
New Academic Building
 
Arts Building

Academic faculties edit

The institution is divided into following academic units:[11]

Post Graduate Students' Union edit

The Post Graduate Students' Union is the apex student representative body of Gauhati University. The first body of PGSU was formed in the year 1949. The first General Secretary was Biren Goswami. Gauhati University being the epicenter of student politics, the PGSU gets high recognition in the state. There are many General Secretaries as well as other office bearers of PGSU who have been involved in the active politics. The present General Secretary of PGSU is Parshwa Patgiri.[13]

Colleges edit

Its jurisdiction extends over 15 districts - Bajali district, Barpeta, Biswanath, Bongaigaon, Darrang, Dhubri, Goalpara, Hojai, Kamrup Metropolitan, Kamrup district, Morigaon, Nagaon, Nalbari, Sonitpur, South Salmara district.

Academics edit

Rankings edit

University rankings
General – international
QS (Asia) (2023)[14]601–650
General – India
NIRF (Overall) (2022)[15]64
NIRF (Universities) (2022)[16]36

Internationally, the QS World University Rankings ranked Gauhati University in the 601–650 band in Asia in 2023.[14]

In India, the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) ranked Gauhati University 64 overall in 2022[17] and 36 among universities.[18]

Notable people edit

Notable alumni edit

Notable faculty edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d NAAC peer team report
  2. ^ a b c Annual Quality Assurance Reports (AQARs)
  3. ^ National Accessment and Accreditation Council
  4. ^ a b History of Gauhati University
  5. ^ a b "H i s t o r y". Gauhati.ac.in. Archived from the original on 18 May 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  6. ^ "A d m i n i s t r a t i o n". Gauhati.ac.in. Archived from the original on 15 February 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  7. ^ Manuscript Conservation Centres Archived 6 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine National Mission for Manuscripts.
  8. ^ "Varsity effort to preserve old manuscripts". The Times Of India. 6 February 2012.
  9. ^ "Administration". Archived from the original on 19 January 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  10. ^ PTI (20 August 2019). "Pratap Jyoti Handique appointed new VC of Gauhati University". India Today. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  11. ^ "Gauhati University".
  12. ^ a b c Gauhati University to offer PG courses in 4 regional languages- Nyooz
  13. ^ "Gauhati University Declares PG Students' Union Election Results". The Sentinel. 27 February 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  14. ^ a b "QS Asia University Rankings 2023". QS Quacquarelli Symonds Limited. 8 November 2022.
  15. ^ "National Institutional Ranking Framework 2022 (Overall)". National Institutional Ranking Framework. Ministry of Education. 15 July 2022.
  16. ^ "National Institutional Ranking Framework 2022 (Universities)". National Institutional Ranking Framework. Ministry of Education. 15 July 2022.
  17. ^ "MHRD, National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF)". www.nirfindia.org. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  18. ^ "MHRD, National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF)". www.nirfindia.org. Retrieved 15 July 2022.

External links edit

  • Official website

26°09′13″N 91°39′48″E / 26.1537°N 91.6634°E / 26.1537; 91.6634