A decade has passed since the assessment and accreditation of the college with B+ Grade by National Assessment & Accreditation Council (NAAC) of University Grants Commission (UGC). It may appear to be a delay on the part of the college for the 2nd Cycle. But the decade is momentous as it has witnessed a root and branch transformation of the college – a makeover from “Kaibalyadayini College of Commerce” to “K. D. College of Commerce and General Studies”, a metamorphosis of a single Faculty-College into a college of eight Departments.
This evolution is not abrupt as the seed of it was already sown by none other than Kaviguru Rabindranath Tagore during his two-night’s stay in the present room no. 4 of the college building (the then garden house of the zamindar of Ramgarh) in his short sojourn to Midnapore town for inaugurating Vidyasagar Smriti Mandir on 16th December, 1939. The college building was also blessed with the touch of the lotus-feet of many legendary persons, viz. Tarasankar Bandopadhyay, Amiya Chakraborty, Kshitimohan Sen Shastri, Sajani Kanta Das, Sir Yadunath Sarkar, Krishna Kripalani, Ramananda Chattopadhyay, Anil Kumar Chanda, Sudha Kanta Roy Chowdhury, Raghubir Singha, Bajendranath Bandopadhyay, Pabitra Gangopadhyay, Nalini Kanta Sarkar, Radhakomal Singha, Sati Debi, Jaya Das, Bijoya Das, Hasi Mukhopadhyay, Sagarmoy Ghosh, Sujit Ranjan Roy, Anadi Ghosh Dastidar and the like. The legacy of such an immaculate glory shaped the vision of the college at the time of its inception in the building and reshaped the college into a multidisciplinary one in the last decade in its striving for comprehensive growth and success, the short history of which is narrativized below.
Responding to the sincere urge of the local youth, the authority of Midnapore College arranged for imparting instructions in Commerce subjects at the Intermediate level during the evening hours in July, 1959 to initiate the move for broadening the field of academic activities in the headquarters of the politically neglected the then undivided Midnapore district. Having felt expedient, it sought for the affiliation of the University of Calcutta for teaching Commerce subjects at the U. G. level and also approached the government accordingly. The government, however, could not approve the move as such an extension was not in conformity with the academic sanctions for a govt.-sponsored college.
Without getting the aspiration of student community belied, the elites of the town, veteran educationists and the Principal of Midnapore College Sri P. N. Ghosh aided by the District Magistrate Sri B. B. Mandal went ahead to establish a separate college for teaching Commerce subjects. The authority of Midnapore College agreed to allow the use of their campus and infrastructural facilities for the purpose till a separate campus could be built up and the University of Calcutta was moved for necessary affiliation. After an on-the-spot inspection in January, 1961, the University of Calcutta granted its affiliation to the proposed college in July and “College of Commerce” thus started its journey on 2nd August, 1961 under the remarkable stewardship of Prof. Rati Mohan Sinha as the Teacher-in-Charge of it and Prof. Bhujendra Kumar Bandopadhyay as the Principal. The newly established college started imparting commerce education on 10th August, 1961 and hence the day is observed as the foundation day of the college. The college, however, got recognition from UGC on 17th February, 1962 (w.e.f. 1961).
The search for a home, for an identity on a separate place was earnestly felt with the swelling of roll strength and it continued for some time with unflinching efforts. The college succeeded in securing a laudable donation of a big one-storeyed pucca spacious building with adjoining land, all measuring nearly two bighas, in the heart of the town on 4th December, 1962 from the heir of Ramgarh raj estate Rajah Ranajit Kishor Sinha Sahas Rai on the condition that the college would have to be named after his revered mother Kaibalyadayini Debi. The college was renamed accordingly as “Kaibalyadayini College of Commerce” on 03rd January, 1963 and necessary approval of the University of Calcutta was obtained on 19th April, 1963. After carrying out required renovation and extension with construction of the first floor, the college was shifted from Midnapore College campus to its own present campus in July, 1967. Thus, the foetus of teaching-learning set by Tagore in his two-night’s stay in the garden house turned the wandering light to a ‘shape’ and gave to it “a local habitation and a name”.
The college sent its first batch of examinees for the B. Com. Degree Examinations in 1963 of whom one came out with first class marks and the general percentage of success was quite above the overall percentage of the University. With the introduction of three-year Bachelor’s degree course in Commerce, the college moved the University of Calcutta for permission to impart instructions up to the Honours standard and after a spot inspection the University granted necessary affiliation for the same in 1965. With a campus of its own from the academic session 1967-68 offering greater administrative freedom and larger span of time available for academic activities, classes particularly for the Honours students were started during the day time retaining a section of the pass course students in the evening to cope with an upsurge in the roll strength exceeding twelve hundred. Towards the end of 1970s, the evening section was discontinued due to the fall in roll strength. However, with the establishment and functioning of Vidyasagar University in mid eighties, the affiliation of the college was shifted to it.
The academic performance of students in different examinations conducted by the University has been consistently spectacular since inception with a good number of them later opting for postgraduation or professional courses like CMA, CA, LLB, etc. Some have even taken up the job of teaching in schools and colleges. The college has indeed become ‘a name’ in imparting commerce education. The college has succeeded again and again in achieving distinction in the field of games and sports, cultural and extension activities.
In tune with the intricate demand of the educational scenario at the turn of the present century and the heritage of the pristine glory and vision of the college, the Governing Body decided to broaden the academic horizon of the college by initiating Honours course in Marketing Management in the session 2006-07 (and thereby making the college the pioneer and sole one till date under the affiliating Vidyasagar University in imparting this subject), and also by introducing Arts stream with Honours course in Bengali and General course in Arts in the session 2007-08. It necessitated the college to open few other departments so that the elective subjects like Economics, Political Science, History and Geography could be offered to the students of the Arts stream. On 13th March, 2007, the college was rechristened as “K. D. College of Commerce and General Studies” and necessary approvals from competent authorities were obtained. The extension of the college was further
accentuated with the introduction of Honours course in English in the session 2009-10. The infrastructural and library facilities and other developmental works have also been duly bettered from time to time with financial assistance from UGC, state government and other sources under the able guidance of former Principals and Teachers-in-Charge.
Thus, traversing almost six decades the college is untiring in its service to the nation through the promotion and expansion of higher education initially in Commerce and recently also in “General Studies” (i.e., Honours & General courses in Arts stream). The institution upholds the ideals to achieve excellence in higher education, all round development of students, liberation of mind and prosperity of society. The dedicated teachers, devoted employees and innumerable sincere students have tirelessly fuelled the brightly burning light of learning in the logo of the college in its six-decade long glorious odyssey. The rapid expansion of the college in terms of number of courses, departments and students inevitably entails upon it the responsibility of maintaining a good academic standard and improving upon the same. The institution has already adopted new initiatives and upgraded its performance keeping in mind the recommendations of the NAAC Peer Team in 2004, and knows that there are “miles to go…”.
This self appraisal report has been prepared according to the guidelines prescribed by NAAC through a Steering Committee comprising of the faculty members, the non-teaching employees, the representatives of other stakeholders and external experts (of the IQAC). We gratefully acknowledge the cooperation and assistance from all associated with the college.