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Cooch Behar Panchanan Barma University

Cooch Behar Panchanan Barma University is a state public university located in Cooch Behar, in the northern part of the Indian state of West Bengal. The university was established to expand higher education opportunities in the Cooch Behar region and the broader northern districts of West Bengal, and is named after the social reformer and educationist Panchanan Barma, who is widely associated with the upliftment of the Rajbanshi community.

Key facts

Name Cooch Behar Panchanan Barma University
Type State public university
Location Cooch Behar, West Bengal, India
Named after Panchanan Barma
Jurisdiction Government of West Bengal

Background

Cooch Behar district has a long historical association with education and culture, having been the seat of the princely state of Cooch Behar before its merger with the Indian Union. For several decades, undergraduate colleges in the district were affiliated to the University of North Bengal. The creation of a dedicated university in Cooch Behar was intended to ease this affiliation load and to provide a focused centre of higher education for students of Cooch Behar and adjoining districts.

The university is named in honour of Panchanan Barma (also spelt Panchanan Barma Thakur), a lawyer, legislator and social reformer from the region, who is remembered for his work in promoting education, identity and social reform among the Rajbanshi people of North Bengal and adjoining areas of Assam.

Academics and structure

As a state public university, Cooch Behar Panchanan Barma University offers postgraduate teaching and research programmes across the humanities, social sciences, sciences and commerce, and serves as the affiliating body for a number of undergraduate colleges in the Cooch Behar region. Academic departments are organised under faculties typical of Indian general universities, with examinations, results and degree-granting functions administered centrally by the university.

Significance

The establishment of the university is significant for several reasons:

  • It provides a regional centre of higher education and research in northern West Bengal, reducing dependence on universities in Siliguri and Kolkata.
  • It strengthens the institutional recognition of Panchanan Barma's contribution to education and social reform in the Rajbanshi-speaking belt.
  • It contributes to the affiliating university network of West Bengal alongside institutions such as the University of North Bengal, the University of Gour Banga and others.

References