
Maharaja Manindra Chandra College
On the 15 th of July 1941 , a great expectation of the people leaving north of Beadon Street was fulfilled with the foundation of Maharaja Manindra Chandra College at 20, Ramkanto Bose Street , Kolkata-700 003. It had been possible due to the drive and initiative of some public-spirited personalities of the locality, especially due to the pioneering spirit of Dr. Panchanan Neogi I.E.S. (Retd.) a well-known educationist of the time and the benevolence of Maharaja Sris Chandra Nandy of Cossimbazar.
The genesis of the college may be traced to a public meeting held on December 15, 1940 at 44/A , New Shyambazar Street ( residence of Dr. Panchanan Neogi). A resolution was adopted in that meeting to the effect that an Arts, Science and Commerce College be opened in memory of the Late illustrious Maharaja Sir Manindra Chandra Nandi of Cossimbazar at 20, Ramkanto Bose Street , Kolkata. His son Hon'ble Maharaja Sris Chandra Nandi kindly consented to make over the premises to the proposed governing body of the college. The college was accordingly named Maharaja Manindra Chandra College and a provisional Governing Body was formed with Maharaja Sris Chandra Nandi as President, Dr. Panchanan Neogi as Secretary and Mr. Debendra Nath Mukherjee as Treasurer of the college. An application for the affiliation of the proposed college in I.A., I.Sc., B.A., and B.Com., standards was submitted to the university on the 21 st December, 1940 .
But the proposal of opening I.Sc. was dropped owing to extreme difficulties in securing equipment and apparatus for science classes and so a revised application for affiliation in I.A., B.A. and B.Com classes was submitted on January 23, 1941 . The college was inspected on 6 th April, 1941 by Mr. Satish Chandra Ghosh, Inspector of Colleges, Dr. J.P. Neogi, University Professor of Economics, Dr. H.C. Roychowdhury, Head of the department of History, Calcutta University, who in their report dated 17 th April, 1941 recommended the affiliation of the college in the I.A. and B.A. standards in the usual subjects with effect from the commencement of the session 1941-'42.
As regards the college premises what needs to be specially noted is that it is an ancestral property of Maharaja Manindra Chandra Nandi and not a property of the Cossimbazar Estate. It is hallowed by the memories of Maharaja Manindra Chandra Nandi who was born in this house on 29 th May, 1860 and it was here that his wedding had taken place when Manindra Chandra was fifteen years old and Kasiswari, the bride, was only seven. After Manindra Chandra had become the successor of the Cossimbazar Estate and had left Calcutta in 1897, the two-storied tumble down old house that stood at 20, Ramkanto Bose Street , was used as a students' Home of sorts by some students who depended on his charity and patronage.
Later the house was turned into an Ayurvedic Vidyalaya named after Manindra Chandra's mother Govindasundari. The house was made over to the Maharaja Manindra Chandra College Society in 1941 by Maharaja Sris Chandra Nandi , Maharaja Manindra Chandra's only surviving son and successor, for the purpose of opening a college in that premises. The two-storied house originally standing on the premises at 20, Ramkanto Bose street was a dilapidated structure and the newly formed Governing Body had to make extensive addition and alterations in order to make it suitable for college purposes.
The old building was subsequently demolished and a new four-storied building was constructed on the site with a view to providing adequate accommodation for the increasing number of students. It may, therefore, be said that the fortuitous conjunction of three factors viz., the organizing and pioneering abilities of Dr. Panchanan Neogi and his illustrious associates , the long-felt want of a first-grade college in North Calcutta and the munificence of maharaja Sris Chandra Nandi contributed to the setting up of Maharaja Manindra Chandra College on 15 th July, 1941 which in course of time under the able stewardship of its illustrious principals assumed the status of one of the premier colleges of Calcutta.
Source: http://www.mmccollege.org/