Evolution

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Satabarshiki Mahavidyalaya is situated in Helencha, around 20 kms from Bongaon, in North 24 Parganas.Helencha, situated centrally in the Bagdah Block, 24 Parganas (North) is where the state Highway from Bongaon splits in two, moving towards Duttaphulia on the left, and Boyra straight ahead, about 15 km away. The inhabitants of the area are deprived in respect of facilities for higher education. Although a number of primary, Secondary and Higher Secondary schools were set up, but the economically and socially backward students from these remote areas had to face great difficulties to go to distant colleges like Dinabandhu Mahavidyalaya, Bongaon, Srikrishna College, Bagula or Ranaghat College to get higher education. Hence the local people felt the necessity of establishing a degree college in the Helencha-Bagdah area.

The College was established on 1st August, 2005 and was initially affiliated to Calcutta University. Later it was affiliated to the West Bengal State University, Barasat. The College was initially housed in Helencha High School and got its own building in 2013. Presently the College has a two storied building with a green environment friendly campus. The establishment of the college was necessitated by the fact that the entire subdivision is highly under-developed economically as well as educationally. It comprises of people who belong to the SC/ST/OBC communities who are extremely economically backward. The college was established in 2005, primarily to cater the need of the thousands of hapless youth who, owing to partition of the country, were forced to settle almost as paupers in this part of the state but had nourished deep in their hearts an inextinguishable urge to pursue higher education to overcome their present miseries. It was also the dream project of the local people of Helencha and Bagdah who had to travel 20kms one way in order to study in the only College of the area which is situated in Bongaon. In 2005 when the College was established, local people decided to name the College after the Father of Indian Constitution Dr. B. R. Ambedkar who tirelessly devoted his entire life for the empowerment of socially and economically backward classes of India. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar laid emphasis on education to ameliorate the conditions of the Dalits.

This college is a dream comes true for the people of Bagdah. Many people have put in great efforts over a very long period of time to transform this dream into reality. They tried their best, but their attempts were not fruitful. Later on, a meeting of the local educationist and general people was convened by Shri Nakul Chandra Hira, Headmaster, Helencha High School, in presence of Dr.Upendra Nath Biswas, the then CBI Joint Director, Government of India, as the Chief guest and Shri Sattendra Nath Biswas, Chief Security Officer, Indian Museum at Calcutta. The meeting resolved to establish a college in Helencha. Dr. U.N. Biswas assured the people of all sorts of help for the proposed college.

Helencha High School, in its M.C meeting No.-07 dated 18-04-2000, resolved to donate 1 (one) acre of its land to the college and allow 9 class rooms for use of the college until the college completes its own building and also offered temporary loan of Rs. 50,000/- for making up the fund. A college organizing committee was formed with Shri Kamalakshmi Biswas as the President, Shri Bimal Krishna Bagchi as the Vice President, Shri Santosh Kumar Biswas, as the Secretary and a number of people present as the members. The meeting strongly resolved to establish a Degree College at Helencha on a land to be donated by Helencha High School. When the issue of the proposed name of the College was being discussed Shri Nakul Chandra Hira proposed that the College be named after the great Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. He further elaborated that Babasaheb Ambedkar struggled through his life for the emancipation of the down trodden section of the people. He was also the chief maker of the Indian Constitution and was awarded “Bharat Ratna” by the Government of India. In order to pay respect to him, it was proposed that the name of the College be “Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Satabarshiki Mahavidyalaya”.

Though very young, the college infrastructure and facilities are continuously renovated and upgraded and new facilities are built taking into consideration the needs of the students and the teachers. The college has a well- qualified and dynamic faculty that regularly upgrades itself to enrich the process of teaching-learning and also outreach programmes. The College has a commanding presence in the University as an institution of learning and also in co-curricular and other activities such as the NSS. The College while fostering a stimulating academic environment also takes into account the fact that the students are the future of the society and hence it attempts at instilling in the students values and attitudes which are considered to be the human imperatives of a strife-free community. The college received the University Grants Commission recognition (under section 2f and 12B of the UGC Act 1956) in 2017.