Debraj Roy College


Debraj Roy College is a leading public higher education institution established in 1949 at Jonaki Nagar in Golaghat. Affiliated to Dibrugarh University, the college has 15 departments running Higher Secondary and Undergraduate programmes both in Science and Arts. The college also offers Postgraduate and Doctoral Research programmes in Life Science in regular mode under Dibrugarh University. The college has a current enrollment of more than 2500 students. The college was ranked 4th among the colleges of Assam by Career360 in 2016.

History

Debraj Roy College came into being in the wake of independence of the country around 1949. In the post independence period, there was a surging atmosphere of great joy and excitement all over the country and this tempo was also felt in an isolated and sleepy town like Golaghat.
There was a craze for higher education among all sections of the people, particularly the students. At that time, there was only one college at Jorhat for the upper Assam region. Higher education was out of reach for the general students of this educationally backward district. This consideration led some spirited persons of the district to establish a college at Golaghat. The institution may be regarded as the brain child of Ayodhya Prasad Goswami, who was a student leader, Biplobi Bir Sankar Baruah, a revolutionary leader of the freedom movement, Golap Ch. Goswami, Dr. Promodaviram Das, Jadunath Saikia, etc. The college was named after the late Debraj Roy, the founder of Bogidhala Tea & Trading Company, Goalghat, in whose memory his son Surendra Nath Ray, the then M.D. of Bogidhala Tea & Trading Company, donated an amount for the construction of the main building of the college.

Academics

Besides Higher Secondary classes for both arts and science streams the college offers option for studies at Undergraduate level both in Arts and Science streams. Post Graduate study and Doctoral Research is possible in Life Science w.e.f. 2016 and 2017 respectively.

Institutional Biotech Hub

The college has an institutional Biotech Hub with state of the art infrastructure for research in the relevant areas.

Departments

There are 15 academic departments in the college which offer both major and core courses in science as well as arts streams. The academic departments of the college are:

Post Graduate Department of Life Science

The department which is a cluster of Zoology and Botany departments offers a Post Graduate programme leading to the degree of M.Sc. in Life Science under Dibrugarh University. The department has also been offering Ph.D. programme under the supervision of faculty members recognised by Dibrugarh University w.e.f. 2017–18.

Department of English

Considered to be an indispensable part of higher education, the department of English has rendered its invaluable service in D.R. College since its inception in 1949. It is a full-fledged department with Major courses, introduced way back in 1973. A good number of alumni of this department has been able to make its mark in different fields such as culture and literature, teaching, administration, journalism and the likes. Presently the department offers both Major and Non-Major courses.
Facilities available in the department:
The Department of Assamese, as a distinctive faculty was introduced in 1949, in the year of establishment of the college. The department has a library and a cultural museum. The museum is enriched with valuable cultural items including a stone inscription of the 5th Century A.D. Two journals are subscribed by the departmental library.

Department of Political Science

The Department of Political Science, D.R. College had come into existence in the year 1958, almost after nine years of the inception of the college. Under the able guidance and supervision of the then Principal, Prafulla Kr. Baruah, the department became fully functioning in the same year. In the initial years of its existence, the pioneering efforts by these early incumbents of the department, particularly Dr. Bedabrata Baruah helped enormously in transforming it into a full-fledged and one of the most coveted departments of the college in the years to come. However, Dr. Baruah had a short stint in the college because he joined active politics later; he was elected to the Indian parliament and subsequently adorned the berth of a Cabinet Minister in the Government of India in the post 1958 period. With due passage of time, the department got fresh leases of life when it was joined by Dr. Nirala Buragohain, Hem Rajkhowa and Dr. Khagen Phukan respectively. During her tenure, Dr Buragohain also served as a Visiting Professor to the Department of Political Science, Calcutta University and as a member of the NAAC Peer Teams in charge of awarding accreditation to colleges and universities of India.

Department of History

The History Department of D.R. College as a separate discipline is as old as the college itself. The Department started its functioning along with the college from 01–09–1949. Distinguished teachers adorned the faculty of History from time to time. In 1961, Honours in History was introduced. The department has its own library which is quite rich in collection of some recent books and journals. The teachers in the Department usually follow the traditional lecture method- "Chalk and Talk", LCD Projectors and computers are frequently used for comprehensive and fruitful teachings. Apart from these, tutorials and remedial classes are regularly arranged.
Facilities available in the department:
The Department of Education is one of the most popular and oldest departments of this college. The department has a laboratory of Psychology which is one of the best laboratories in D.U. The laboratory is now in possession of many equipments related to the subject. The students get sufficient facilities to perform psychological and mental testing. The instruments now available in the laboratory are memory drum, simple reaction time, mirror drawing apparatus, tachistoscope, per in experimental box, Bhatia's performance apparatus, maze learning etc.

Department of Economics

Department of Philosophy is one of the initial departments of D.R. College which was established in 1949. The founder teacher of this department was Late Jadunath Saikia, a prominent lawyer of Golaghat who rendered his honorary service till 1951. The department offers both Major and Non-Major courses.

Department of Philosophy

Department of Philosophy is one of the initial departments of D.R. College which was established in 1949. The department has its own library besides the central library which is quite enriched with new and old books. The library has a collection of reference books and the text books for the benefit of the students.

Department of Chemistry

At present, the department has six faculty members. The academic condition in terms of quality of faculty and learning transfer process is healthy and adequate. All the teachers of the department are sincerely engaged in scholarly pursuits.

Department of Physics

The department has full-fledged departmental library and computer along with state of the art classrooms and laboratories for theory as well as practical classes.
Facilities available in the department:
In its inception there was only Arts stream in D.R. College and the. College was affiliated to Gauhati University. Later on, to fulfill the dream of the people of Golaghat district, Science stream was introduced in the year 1960 and in the same year, Department of Mathematics came into its existence. The department has full-fledged departmental library and computer lab with mathematical software for practical as well as theory classes.

Department of Zoology

The department of Zoology was established in the year 1960. Distinguished adorned the faculty of Zoology from time to time. Presently the department has 5 full-time teachers who are sincerely engaged in their classes and research. Besides the Department has long and constant history of producing First class graduates.
Facilities available in the department:
The department has well equipped library having specialized books on botany along with wi-fi internet connectivity. The classroom is equipped with digital projection and smart board technology. Moreover, the department owns a botanical museum and botanical garden.

Department of Statistics

The departments is a full-fledged department rendering TDC course both in Major and Pass course with three permanent Assistant professors and two other seasonal lecturers. All the faculty members try their level best to upgrade the academic profile of the department. Also, the faculty members have been increasing their research experiences in their own field of interest.

Department of Biotechnology

Facilities available in the department:
The department came into existence in 2010 with two part-time faculty members and one honorary supervising member from statistics department. The department offers courses such as BCA and PGDCA in regular mode under Dibrugarh University.

Recognition and accreditation

Debraj Roy College is recognised under 2f and 12b sections of the UGC Act 1956 and has been accredited with A grade by NAAC in 2011. It was also declared by UGC as a "College with Potential for Excellence" in the year 2010 and for a second term in 2014.

Footnotes