Where nature is very dry, people’s lives are sweltering in the scorching heat for most of the year, where most of the citizens live below the poverty line, those who do not even have a sign of so-called social aristocracy, and find it difficult to make ends meet, where most of the students get the first education in their lineage, where the house is mud walls and thatched roofs and bedrooms, kitchens, dining rooms – whatever we say, they are all one, whose name in life is hindrance. Today, we walked to Saltora Netaji Centenary College, a symbol of self-esteem and self-motivation for the common people of Saltora of Bankura district, which is geographically very remote.

Saltora Netaji Centenary College is the result of many sacrifices and constant efforts of the intelligent people of Saltora and its neighbouring villages. This college was established in 2000 through novel initiatives. Before, there was no degree college in Saltora. Their children had to go to colleges in distant Raniganj, Bankura or Raghunathpur in Purulia for higher education.

For the people of Saltora, who are economically backward, to send their children to distant colleges to study or to keep them in hostels and bear the expenses was a distant dream. Enthusiastic, socially conscious people decided that they would build a college here by collecting ‘donations’ from people from all walks of life, resulting in the setup of a ‘Donation Fair’ on a particular day.

The day-long donation raised land and huge sums of money for the college with great enthusiasm, which was entirely given by the common people irrespective of religion, caste, poor and rich, educated and uneducated to build the college. The establishment of the college was possible due to the incredible response of the donation fair.

The construction of the extensive college campus and the huge playground adjacent to the college has become possible today due to the generous mentality of the people of Saltora. Saltora Netaji Centenary College was built as a symbol of hope and aspiration for the people of Saltora. Standing at the gate of that college and looking ahead, the thick green Biharinath hill seems to say, ‘Come to this green valley’. Purulia begins just three to four kilometres from here.

While Dr Kishore Kumar Biswal is the principal of the college, Dr Tushar Mandal is the coordinator of the college’s internal quality assurance cell. These people are the face of this college- a symbol of the hopes and aspirations of the people here.

The college, which was built with donations from the general public, started its journey in 2000, being affiliated with Burdwan University. Then, in 2014, when Bankura University was formed, the college went under Bankura University in 2017-18. Currently, as per NEP 2020, major courses and minor courses are taught here, including subjects like Bengali, English, political science, philosophy, history, Sanskrit, Santali, physical education, and geography. About 70 per cent of the college’s total student body is female, and 30 per cent is male.

Currently, there are 42 professors in the college. However, for the sake of the students, it has always been customary to invite expert professors of various subjects here to conduct classes.

Apart from syllabus-based studies, every department conducts various programs aimed at the development of students. The college publishes the annual college magazine, Subhasita, regularly, and every department publishes a wall magazine to develop the creative talent of its students. The journal of the philosophy department Srinvantu is different.

The college emphasises the intellectual and personality development and self-confidence of students by organising debate competitions, quiz competitions, and student seminars at regular intervals.

Every department arranges remedial classes for backward students. Evening online classes are held for special needs. International, national or state-level discussion events are organised in the college every year under the initiative of various departments. Workshops were held on various topics. For example, the Bengali Department recently organised a seven-day workshop on ‘Proofreading and Editing’.

In the international seminar of the Bengali department, the traditional writers of the two countries often come to give speeches. Students from the geography department are taken on educational trips every year. Other departments also organise occasional educational trips. The College Cultural Council organises various programs throughout the year. Birthdays of sages are celebrated with respect.

Attempts are made to discover the latent talents of the students by organising various cultural competitions. Convener of the College’s Cultural Council, Professor Soumyabrata Banerjee, said, “In today’s era of cultural decline, our college students are carrying a healthy cultural heritage.” The college has an MoU with various colleges and government and non-government agencies to carry out many collaborative ventures for the benefit of the students. Here, the student-teacher relationship is very healthy. The students are very polite. They learn this etiquette from the inner atmosphere of the college. The students of the Santali department carry their own culture with dignity.

An important and exceptional initiative of this college is the ‘Ritusathi’ scheme. Through this project, ‘Women’s Cell’ and the ‘Hygiene and Sanitization Committee’ of the college jointly initiated seasonal awareness among the mothers and sisters of the neighbouring villages. Free sanitary napkins were also distributed by the college.

The college has a government-registered sports academy. Apart from college students, the academy provides football and athletic training two days a week for free to the boys and girls from nearby villages. The whole thing is handled by the physical education department. The physical education department also has its own gym. This department organises a special camp at Susunia Hill every year in winter to improve the physical ability of the students for rock climbing.

Each department of the college has a departmental library as well as a central library. The library of the small and young college in this remote area has about 24 thousand books. Sufficient journals, magazines, and newspapers are kept for the students. The library has a substantial amount of e-resources. National Digital Library Club is present in the college. The college has a herb garden and vermicomposting facility.

The alumni association of the college works continuously in remote areas to increase the education rates, which are low in that area. The college has a Rooftop solar energy system. Besides, there is a rainwater harvesting facility as well. Rainwater is stored in three tanks of 30,000 litres. This stored water is very useful during the dry season.

Under the initiative of Ramki Foundation, Bengal Waste Management Limited, Saltora Branch recently provided five 75-inch interactive multi-touch 4K UHD android screen display boards to Saltora Netaji Centenary College.

As a result, with the help of modern technology, education has reached newer heights. The teachers of this college are using smart boards to make teaching more enjoyable. So, the interest of the students in coming to the class has also increased.

Dr BC Roy Engineering College, Durgapur, responded to the college’s request and provided 30 computers for the students. As a result, a computer lab is running in this remote area without any government grant. Some computer-based add-on courses will be launched for the students very soon.

The anti-ragging cell of the college is very active. The college campus is completely polythene-free and environment-friendly. The college campus is surrounded by sal and palash trees.

The three units of the National Service Scheme of the college are continuously doing social service work. The College has adopted three villages, Collegepara, Bamniishala and Natundihi, adjacent to the college. The three units of NSS are constantly working to improve the education and health of these three villages.

There is a vending machine and napkin disposer or incinerator in the girls’ common room of the college as well, which no other college seems to have.

Let Saltora Netaji Centenary College move forward towards its desired goal.