A group of professors from Balurghat, representing different colleges in the town, on Monday, met Member of Parliament from Balurghat, Arpita Ghosh, at the Balurghat Circuit House and urged her to recommend the Balurghat Co-ed College as the site for the new university planned for South Dinajpur.

Selection of a site for the proposed university soon after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced setting up of a new university in South Dinajpur has sparked a controversy, with people from both Balurghat and Gangarampur demanding the university.

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Ms Ghosh and the people of Balurghat have rooted for Balurghat as the site for the proposed university. “Professor Ripon Sarkar, Prasanta Dhair and the Principal of Balurghat Girls’ College Biman Chakrabarty on Monday met Ms Ghosh with a comprehensive report.

Ms Ghosh received their proposal and requested them to send the same to the higher level,” sources said.

According to the Balurghat Coed college authorities, the college is successfully running three post-graduate courses in Bengali, Sanskrit and History autonomously under the Gour Banga University.

The college at present has 59 full-time teachers and enough classrooms to support further academic facilities.

The college has even completed the final exams of the post-graduate courses much before the University of Gour Banga, they claimed.

“We have given our proposal to Ms Ghosh. She knows a lot about our college and she is satisfied with the performance of the institution.

We have proposed her to recommend our college for the formation of the new university. We are hopeful that Balurghat college will be selected as the site for the university,” said professor Sarkar.

Ms Ghosh said that she is grateful to the Chief Minister for her decision to set up a university in South Dinajpur.

“The place is not vital in the project; the university will be an identity for the district.

I have talked to the higher authorities to identify a plot for the university in the district and a final decision will be taken by the higher education department.

Professors from Balurghat on Monday met me to finalize the site for the project at Balurghat college. I will inform the higher authorities of the same,” Ms Ghosh said.