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| dm block. Patna college, Patna upload.wikimedia.org |
Patna College, Patna, Bihar established on 9 February 1863 during the British Raj, is now 159 years old and is the oldest institution in that state. It was started with a view to imparting collegiate education to the prospective students of this region aspiring for higher studies. The college owes its origin to the establishment of Patna High School in 1835 which later gave birth to Patna Branch School in 1854. Ultimately, the Collegiate School in 1862 became the college in 1863. In 1963 the centenary ceremony was held.
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| Historic Patna college, Patna, Bihar.economictimes.indiatimes.com |
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| west corridor gate. Patna college, Patna, upload.wikimedia.org |
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| Location map, Patna city.oneindia.com |
The students enrollment began to grow gradually as years went by and by 1900 it rose to 400 plus. Additional building came up over a period of time like the western wing and the Eastern wing built in 1871 and 1880 respectively. It was in 1882 the portico and the present BA Lecture Theatre were built with access to the main building in the form of a long corridor. Between 1913 -14 new lab buildings came up followed by Gymnasium between 1926 and 1927.
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| Adm block, GF stairway, Patna college. upload.wikimedia.org |
Patna University was established in October 1917, soon after the creation of Provinces of Bihar and Orissa. As the response among the parents were good PG courses in various fields were started in 1919 at Patna college In 1927 the Science College was established as a separate institutions for higher scientific teaching.
Almost every major institution of Patna - Patna Law College, Engineering College ( presently National Institute of Technology, Patna), Patna Science College and Vanijya Mahavidyalaya, owes it origin to the parent college. They got separated and became independent autonomous institution over a period of time.
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| Patna college building, Patna. collegedekho.com |
The administrative block of the college is a pretty old but a historical structure which was once used as a warehouse to store opium to be exported abroad, in particular to China. The factory was run by the Dutch India company in the 17th century. The colonial powers in particular, the English company forced the farmers in this state to grow poppy plants from which opium was produced on large scale.
This once iconic educational institution of excellence and a symbol of cultural confluence is losing its glory in the past one decade on account of poor upkeep and maintenance. According to Shankar Dutt, professor of English at Partna University, the halcyon days are over.
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| weat corridor language wing. |
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| Patna college, Patna. youtube.com/ |
He said, "What made Patna College great was the academic stalwarts that taught in the campus. And, the knowledge and wisdom they instilled and values they inculcated in us became invariably the value of the city, which is missing today both from teachers as well as the students side."
The standard of education, it is said, is not on par with that of the past era. Media reports point out that its impressive hostels and celebrated corridors (western and eastern) built more than a century ago have now become a "picture of decay." Countless teachers and students blame it on official apathy. At loss is its prestige, once it was called ''the East of Oxford.''
Both simultaneous architectural conservation and complete educational overhauling will be the right answer to set things right and get back the lost glory. The murals on the eastern corridor are fading and they need to be conserved,. so are the prized ionic Greek-styled murals and motifs inside its East Wing hall of the historical administration bloc. That once a fine and renowned colonial institution is losing its standard of education and impressive buildings due to sheer negligence had left lots of old students annoyed over the poor state of affairs prevailing on campus. It is further complicated by campus politics and students affiliation to the political parties in the state. Protests by students on the slightest pretext cause chaos and mayhem and the iconic structures stand as mute specters to this decline in character, integrity and social responsibility of the students.
A lot has been written and discussed on the past glory of this college. Now the scenario is upside down and conservation of iconic buildings and the quality of education need to be addressed soon, before things go out beyond control.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patna_College
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