The Campus

Almost a century ago, Asutosh College was set up under the visionary eyes of Sir Asutosh Mukherjee. Often referred to as the “Tiger of Bengal”, Sir Asutosh Mukherjee was a renowned educationist, mathematician, Chief Justice and Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University. To this day, his name shines bright as Asutosh College has grown to become one of the most prestigious colleges in Kolkata.

Sir Asutosh Mukherjee took up the initiative of establishing a college in the Bhowanipore area of South Calcutta. He submitted an appeal to the Indian Universities Commission in 1904. The affiliation was approved in 1915 and on July 17, 1916, South Suburban College (with Sir Asutosh Mukherjee as its founder President and Sri Panchanan Sinha as founder Principal) was set up at 26, Lansdowne Road with an Intermediate level curriculum under Calcutta University (I.A/I.Sc) with 7 subjects, 20 teachers and merely 250 students. A year later, the college shifted to Bijni House, Russa Road, (now known as Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute) with a total of 800 students. Finally, in 1935, the college shifted to its newly constructed building under the initiative of Dr. Syamaprasad Mukherjee at 9, Russa Road (presently Hazra) with a student capacity of 1500. After the sad demise of Sir Asutosh Mookerjee on May 25, 1924, the college was renamed Asutosh College on June 15, 1924. What started out then as an intermediate college was renamed as Asutosh College on June 15, 1924. What started out then as an intermediate college with only a handful of students, is now one of the most prominent colleges in Kolkata with 26 degree subjects, post-graduate courses, add-on courses as well as B.Voc courses.

The Asutosh Mukherjee Memorial Institute, founded in 1927, appealed to the Calcutta Corporation (the then Mayor Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose) to allot a portion of Hazra Park (now Jatin Das Park) for the construction of the college building. The Calcutta Corporation granted 1 bigha 14 cottahs of land to the north of Hazra Park in the form of a lease of 99 years of Re. 1/- only. In 1935, the new building was completed by the Asutosh Memorial Committee at a cost of Rs. 2,14,469/-. A donation of Rs. 2, 20,127/-was collected from 60 donors for the construction of the building. In 1936, Asutosh College along with a library and an auditorium was shifted to the newly-constructed building. In 2005, the main building was extended vertically upto the 4th floor.

Asutosh College also has its own gymnasium, Syamaprasad Gymnasium, which is a first of its kind in Kolkata. Students of Asutosh College can also avail hostel facilities. The college also has its ground at Kolkata Maidan which is shared with Bangabasi College since 1952. In 1956, the Asutosh College Tent was inaugurated there by Sri Ramaprasad Mukherjee. The Asutosh Memorial Hall is considered as a landmark and a leading cultural centre of South Calcutta which has hosted eminent personalities like Mahatma Gandhi, Sir Nilratan Sarkar and even Kabiguru Rabindranath Tagore when the dance-drama 'Syama' was staged in 1936.

MAIN BUILDING

The main building is presently located at 92, Syamaprasad Mukherjee Road with student capacity of more than 6000, about 250 teachers and 180 non-teaching staffs. The building is located in close proximity to Jatin Das Park and Jatin Das Park Metro Station. The Building is dedicated for administrative work and academic activities.

ASUTOSH COLLEGE TRAINING CENTRE

The Asutosh College Training Centre (ACTC) building was constructed during the Platinum Jubilee Year of the college in 1991. It is located across the north face of the college at 10, Basanta Bose Road. It houses the reading section of the Central Library, Post Graduate and newly introduced Departments. It also includes the Asutosh College Training Centre (ACTC) where students are trained for job-screening examinations for easy entry into the job market.

CENTENARY BUILDING

The Centenary Building of the college at 22, Kalighat Road to house the Post Graduate courses and to mark the centenary year of Asutosh College was inaugurated by His Excellency the President of India on 1, April 2015. The Centenary Building includes a modern seminar hall along with a conference room, e-library, instrumentation centre and smart-classrooms to ensure a better teaching-learning process.

HUMANITIES BLOCK

The four-storied building at 16, Basanta Bose Road (previously served as Boys' Hostel) accommodates all the Humanities Departments. It was renovated in the pre-centenary year of the college. Right now, the IT office and Health Check-up centre of Asutosh College run in the ground floor. 

SECOND CAMPUS, BHASHA

To meet the growing number of students not only from Kolkata but also from adjoining states and countries, the college authorities acquired 11 acres of land for the construction of a second campus at Bhasha (near Joka on Diamond Harbour Road, South 24 Parganas) which will serve as a centre for newly proposed courses. The second campus has a 2.5 acres water-body to provide a serene, pollution-free, eco-friendly and green environment to its student. It includes a state-of-the-art academic-cum-administrative building, Central Library, high-tech laboratories, auditoria, students' hostels and a residential complex for the teaching and non-teaching staffs. This campus will go hand-in-hand with the heritage building at Hazra to restore old and new traditions and welcome new streams of professional disciplines. The second campus is surrounded by a high boundary wall of 4000 running feet and about 400 saplings. The construction of the Office Building and Hostel Buildings for boys and girls has been completed with UGC funding. The construction of the Academic Building is currently in the pipeline. The academic activities of the campus shall be distributed across the proposed 15 schools of Life Sciences, Earth Sciences, Physical Science, Social Sciences, Computer Science and Technology, Rural Sciences, Distance Education, Language and Literature and many more for inter-disciplinary studies and research.

RESEARCH CENTRE

Asutosh College, which began its journey as an Intermediate-level college in pre-independent India, has emerged today also as a centre for postgraduate studies and research. To facilitate the research needs, we have introduced Asutosh College Research Centre in 2019, a dedicated multidisciplinary research centre with the aim to stimulate on-campus research environment. Located at 128/9, Hazra Road, Kolkata, Asutosh College Research Centre (ACRC) is determined to enhance various research activities. It will be facilitative for the faculty members and researchers to pursue interdisciplinary and social research with state-of-the-art equipments in addition to online resources and extension activities.