Raiganj University's Review and Verdict by CollegeDekho

Campus at a Glimpse

Established on February 3, 2015, Raiganj University is a state-aided university. It is recognised by UGC. It is the first Unitary University in North Bengal which offers both undergraduate and postgraduate courses in its own campus. The university's old campus is spread across 13.62 acres of land. As per the university reports, a new second campus will be built on 11.19 acres of land received from the State Government at a distance of 3 km from the university. 

Course-wise, the university offers a total of 104 courses. The university currently has 22 undergraduate departments, 23 postgraduate departments and 17 departments dedicated to PhD and M.Phil courses along with its ‘Centres of Excellence’-Centre for Folklore Studies, the Centre for Buddhist Studies, the Centre for Women’s Studies, the Environment Conservation Centre, the Business Incubation and Innovation Centre, the Centre for Differently Abled Students. Raiganj University admissions are based on merit except for MBA where admission is based on CMAT/ MAT/ CAT/ ATMA/ JMAT/ XAT/ WBJEMAT/ RUMAT scores followed by GD and PI rounds.

Infrastructure-wise, the university campus houses administrative buildings, canteens, a guest house, a playground, a garden of rare medicinal plants and a mulberry garden among several others. Behind the status of a flourishing university, there are multiple grey shades that the university carries within. If news is to be believed, there were incidences of campus violence where many students and faculty were injured. What more have the students dealt with and what measures did the university take, all are discussed below:

Raiganj University Ranking

NIRF Ranking: Not in the Race!

Even though NIRF has submitted the overall report of Raiganj University for 2023, it has not been placed in any of the 13 categories of NIRF Ranking.

Raiganj University Academia and Batch Size

Academic Composition

Raiganj University academia is a mix of classroom learning, assignments and assessments. The university follows a semester-based approach and offers undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral degrees. The general courses at the undergraduate courses are offered in two shifts- morning and evening.

Batch Size

According to the NIRF Report 2024, the following data were extracted that represent the approved intake and actual strength of the Raiganj University students:

Our Take:

If we look at the numbers mentioned above, overall 4,255 students were admitted beyond the approved seat limit. For UG 3-year courses, 3,946 students were granted admission above the sanctioned intake. 309 extra students are enrolled above the sanctioned limit for PG 2-year courses. This signifies that there is no end cap in admissions. Furthermore, as per the Students feedback, there are not enough facilities given the number of students enrolled.

Fees

The fees charged for  Raiganj University courses are as follows:

Our Take:

As per students have expressed on Google reviews and Quora that the fees are high reasoning that the education structure is not up to the mark. Students have straightforwardly commented that pursuing an MSc course at the university is not a good option citing the non-availability of appropriate machines in laboratories. Further adding that the facilities required for practical-based PhD courses is a scarcity.

Raiganj University Infrastructure

Classrooms

According to the annual report, the university has both normal classrooms and smart classrooms. The report mentions that the university has a total of 23 smart classrooms. 

Library

The university boasts about its library facilities which comprise 61598 volumes of text and reference books, 51 journals/ periodicals and magazines and subscriptions to 7 leading daily newspapers. Apart from that, the library offers the following services:

• Bibliographic Service
• Reference Service
• Information Service
• Reprographic Facility
• Internet Facility
• Online Access to Selected Journals through J-GATE+, JSTOR, South Asia Archive, World E-book Library, E-PG Pathshala etc.
• Study and Research Support Service
• Information Hub for Students, Teachers & Research Scholars
• Lending facilities for Books
• Offline Digital Library
• OPAC and Web OPAC
• Plagiarism Checking through URKUND

Sports

The university website mentions that students are entitled to outdoor sports facilities like football, cricket, volleyball, etc. and has an indoor gymnasium for the students & staff. 

Hostel

Raiganj University offers separate accommodation facilities for men and women with an intake capacity of 66 and 64 hostellers, respectively. The boys hostel, known as  Vivekananda Chattrabas is available on a three-sharing basis with facilities such as a dining hall, in-campus playgrounds, water purifier, and round-the-clock security, among others. Each hostel room is equipped with 1 wooden cot, 1 table, 1 book self, 1 hanger and 1 study chair for each boarder.

The girls hostel is known as Vidyasagar Chatrinibas. It is a 2-storey building with 17 rooms available on a two-sharing basis. One UG student can share the room with one PG student. The facilities provided are similar to that of boys hostel with Wi-Fi and Internet access. hostel admission fee is around INR 4,500 per year including rent and electricity charges. There is no caution deposit. They further added that the hostel mess is run by the boarders.

Canteen

According to the official website, Raiganj University has 2 canteens providing full-course meals, snacks and beverages for students and faculty at reasonable rates.

Internet

The university has granted internet access to its students. The speed as mentioned in the Annual Report 2018-19 is 20 Mbps. Students can access internet facility throughout the campus. 

Our Take:

Students have voiced that the central library of the university is not digitised yet. However, according to university officials, they are planning to digitise it soon. Another area where the university lacks is accommodation capacity of classrooms. The classrooms are small is size in comparsion to batch strength. Talking about hostel and mess facilities, students have opined that more hostels should be opened at the campus. 

Raiganj University Placements

According to the NIRF Report 2024, Raiganj University placement statistics for UG 3-year and PG 2-year courses for the year 2023 is as follows:

Our Take:

If we look at the data above, Raiganj University placement statistics are very distressing with only 5 students placed out of 734 students from the UG 3-year programme. Only 10 students were placed with a median salary of INR 1,50,000 out of 561 PG 2-year programme students. There is a lot that needs to be done from introducing a strong placement cell to collaborating with top industry partners from across the country. Furthemore, the university also needs to shift its focus over internships, which are almost nill at the moment. 

Raiganj University Diversity and Demographics

The university welcomes students from adjacent districts and states including overseas students. Currently, the university has a total of 9,180 students in its UG 3-year and PG 2-year programs. Following data has been extracted from the NIRF Report 2024:

Raiganj University: Gender Ratio Index

Our Take:

As per the data retrieved from the NIRF Report 2024, with a total of 4886 male students and 4294 female students, the male-to-female ratio is satisfactory. For UG 3-year, the female percentage is 86% that of male. Similarly, for the PG 2-year course, the male count is 5.8% more than that of female students. 

Raiganj University: Diversity Representation

Our Take:

The above data extracted from NIRF Report 2024 shows that only 7 students are from outside West Bengal. The university officials said that the Raiganj University focuses on providing education to marginalised sections of West Bengal. However, as per news reports, it is evident that students invest a lot of time in university politics which has resulted in bitter consequences in the past. For example, according to a few newspapers, students’ unions of the ruling Trinamool Congress and the Congress allegedly clashed using firearms within the campus during the admission session causing injuries to 12 students.

 Source: Times of India

Raiganj University Faculty and Administration/Management

Raiganj University currently has 118 faculty members. The sanctioned faculty posts at the university is 154. 36 posts are still vacant. Non-Academic staff in Raiganj University comprises 26 substantive employees, 34 contractual Group C employees, 37 contractual Group D employees and 4 contractual engineers.

Our Take:

The faculty-to-student ratio currently stands at 78:1, which is not at all optimal. Students have also expressed that there is a lack of experienced faculty members and this affects the quality of teaching. They further added that a few faculty members are not at all punctual with their class timings.

Administration-wise, students have opined that the staffs exhibit rude behaviour towards students and the academic proceedings are very slow. A 2021 pass-out of Raiganj University commented that his application for admission in postgraduate programme at a university was rejected at the time of document verification as Raiganj University could not provide his degree certificates on time.

Raiganj University Location

Raiganj University is located at College Para, in Uttar Dinajpur district in West Bengal. Raiganj city is at a distance of 3 km from the university campus. The nearest bus depot N.B.S.T.C. Raiganj Depot is at a distance of 1 km from the campus. The closest railway station is Raiganj Railway Station which is at a distance of 1.7 km.

Our Take:

As per the students' feedback, the transportation in the entire North Dinajpur district is poor. While there are direct train routes connecting the district to Kolkata, Siliguri, Delhi, and Malda, there is no airport connectivity. The nearest airport, Bagdogra, is situated 150 kilometers away from the university campus.

Raiganj University Expectations vs Reality - CollegeDekho Verdict

Considering the university’s status as a developing university, there is a positive expectation among students that the university has the potential to be amongst the top universities in West Bengal. Infrastructure-wise, the university has provided the requisite facilities to its students. The university claims that the upcoming new campus will bring in a lot of opportunities for the students. The classroom deficiency that the students have complained about will also get an ultimatum according to the university.

However, there are a few areas where the university has lagged. Students have said that the academic curriculum is not as per the industry standards. Diversity-wise, there is no presence of students from outside West Bengal. This restricts the students from acquiring the cultural experience that is a must in today’s fast-paced world. Moreover, the university needs a strong placement cell as the placement numbers are distressing. 

The university has taken proactive steps to establish institutional connections with universities in Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh, with the aim of fostering academic collaboration through the Raiganj International Academic Network Programme. The university has formally entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Uttar Bangla University College in Bangladesh. Despite these efforts to enhance its global outreach, the university's endeavors have yet to yield noteworthy results.

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