Mita Mukherjee

St. Xavier’s College, Calcutta, run by the Jesuits will open a new campus in the city to accommodate more students, principal, Father Dominic Savio, announced at the annual convocation of the institution on Saturday.

The 161-year old institution which is an autonomous college and happens to be one of the most sought-after institutions among the bright and meritorious students of Bengal and also of other parts of the country, has two campuses at present including the main campus on Park Street and the second one at Raghabpur in South 24 Parganas, nearly 21 kilometres from Calcutta.

The third campus which is to come up at Anandapur on Eastern Metropolitan Bypass in Kolkata will mainly house the departments that offer courses in media science, mass communication and journalism.

 “In order to accommodate the demands of students we are planning to set up another campus on E. M. Bypass with a vision to transform the campus to a communication hub.,” Father Savio said.

The college was also planning to set up peace studies centre for creating awareness and understanding of on one’s own peace and of the society and world as a whole, Father Dominic Savio said.

Swami Atmapriyananda,  pro chancellor Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute (Deemed University)  which is run by the mission monks, advised the graduating students never to move away from truth as truthfulness was important in every sphere of life. He was present at the convocation as the chief guest.

“Truth is the guiding principle  in India. Truth alone triumph. Unfortunately, in the present world, particularly those who are young ,there is a feeling that truth doesn’t work any more. The buzz word is now management. Everything has to be managed in a suitable way and even truth needs to be managed at present. But please don’t move away from truth at any cost,” Swami Atmapriyananda advised the students.          

He also referred to the ancient Indian teachings, which focus not only on education, but also on character building. He said real education was building men and women of impeccable character with selfless actions working towards welfare of the people. He also spoke on Swami Vivekananda’s views on five virtues of teachings including  truthfulness, moral principles, sustainability, skill development and the ability to appreciate wonders.

As many as 2250 students who completed their undergraduate, postgraduate courses were awarded degrees at the convocation.

The convocation was held in a blended mode because of the pandemic. Some students received the awards and degrees physically and many of them attended the progamme  through online live streaming.

Sonali Ckarabarti Banerjee, vice-chancellor Calcutta University presided over the convocation.

Also read: UK university signs urban growth pact with Kolkata