‘Vision-2050’: St. Xavier’s University V-C urges CM for additional land

Kolkata: Spread across 17 acres in New Town, Kolkata, St. Xavier’s University is gearing up for further expansion to enhance the quality of education it offers. A new academic building, housing 200 classrooms, is set to become operational by June 2025. Xavier Law School, with 1,000 students, will move to this new facility. Rev. Dr. John Felix Raj, vice-chancellor (V-C) of St. Xavier’s University, plans to approach CM Mamata Banerjee and the state government to request an additional 10 acres of land. This expansion is part of the university’s Vision-2050, which aims to introduce more courses and improve educational standards.

“The campus currently spans 17 acres, but we need 10 more acres to grow further. The CM has always shown concern for education in Bengal and has often highlighted the issue of students leaving the state. One way to address this is by upgrading our education system. Renowned universities worldwide are built on vast campuses of 200-300 acres.

For a top-tier university, at least 100 acres is essential. We need to think big and develop an education system that serves not only today’s students but also future generations. I urge the CM and the government to grant us 10 more acres, even if not adjacent to the current campus,” said Rev. Raj.

He also expressed his gratitude to the CM for establishing the Mother Teresa Chair For Peace. Zinia Mitra, professor of English at North Bengal University, has been appointed as Chair Professor. “We are thankful to the CM for establishing this Chair. The fund has already been cleared by the government,” he said.

On Thursday, the V-C at a press conference also informed that the university, which has 4,500 students at present, would be launching new courses in 2025 like LLM, BTech, BSc Statistics with Data Science and others keeping in pace with the ever changing industry academia dynamics. “We are also planning to start BTech with specialisation in AI and ML. Soon, we would start a range of courses in designs both for undergraduates and postgraduates in collaboration with IIT Kharagpur,” he said.

Christmas is a special time for the university. This year, the varsity is organising a Christmas get-together with the principals of colleges in schools on December 20. Binod Kumar, IAS, Principal Secretary, Higher Education, Government of West Bengal, will deliver the foundation day lecture on ‘State Education Policy 2023: Challenges and Opportunities’ on February 8, 2025.

Another sought-after event of the university is the convocation ceremony. Around 860 students are graduating and will be receiving the degrees, including 8 PhD scholars at the sixth convocation on February 15, 2025. Justice IP Mukherjee, Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court, will be the chief guest. “Last year, we had only one PhD scholar and this year, we have eight,” said Rev Raj, who celebrates the golden jubilee of his priesthood and stays in Kolkata. G Viswanathan, Chancellor and Founder of VIT, will receive the Honoris Causa for this contribution in the field of academics research and innovation.