Bhandarkars' College Golden Jubilee - 50 years of education excellence

Kundapur taluk in undivided D.K.Dist.is known for its own spoken Kannada language and it has its own different culture. It is also famous for its natural beauty. Beautiful beaches through out the long sea shore, Panchagangavali river which is creating Julu Julu sound, so many Kudrus and above all the Sahyadri mountain series. It seems the nature has spread all its beauty in Kundapur taluk.
Bhadarkars Arts and Science college,one of the famous institution of Kundapur taluk is celebrating its golden jubilee this year. Full of celebrations on its golden jubilee,the object of this article is to put light on the history of the college and its path of success.

Even though Kundapur was a tiny town 50 years ago,it was surrounded by so many villages having  very few schools. It remained a dream for the locals to get higher education at that time. At this point of time,the senior citizens of this region have decided to establish a first degree college and in 1957,the foundation stone was laid for this prestigious institution. Kundapur Rotary club has put a demand to establish a college under Manipal Academy of General Education and it was approved by Academy chief Dr.T.M.A.Pai in 1959.

Accordingly,the residents started collecting donations for the establishment of the college. Social worker K.L.Bhandari wrote a letter to Bahrain’s well known Doctor Dr.Acchuta Srinivas Bhandarkar demanding a donation of Rs.25000/-. He immediately sent an amount of Rs.2 lakhs as a donation for the opening of the college in the town.
On Nov.2,1962,the foundation stone was laid for the college by Dr.Acchutha Srinivas Bhandarkar himself and on July 11,1963,the college was inaugurated by Dr.T.M.A.Pai. In its first year,256 students took admission in the college. Manipal Academy of Education has donated furniture and office equipment to the college. And now Bhandarkars college is standing as one of the prestigious colleges in the state.
Year by year,more and more students started joining the college,it was decided to construct a new college building to accommodate around 3000 students and the building was completed in the year 1968.

The role of college Principals in the alround development of the college:

It is 100% true that the college principals have played their important role in the alround development of this college. Prof.K.G.Shenoy was appointed principal for the first 2 years. He did his best to overcome the initial difficulties in running the college. Later,Prof.T.Krishna Rao was appointed as the Principal of the college and he rendered his services for a period of 11 years. He did his best in maintaining the discipline of the college and helped in the alround development. In 1976,Dr.Shantharam was appointed new principal of the college. Likewise,all the principals have played their important part in the development of the college.
In 1977-78,the strength of the students has seen a marginal increase. The total strength was 1256 and the necessity arose for the opening of new departments. The construction of a new college building was undertaken to ease the demand.
Haji N.C.Koya Kutty has donated Rs.10000/- and ‘Haji N.C.Koyakutti’ Auditorium gave a new image to the college. Same year,Syndicate Bank has opened its branch at the college premises to provide banking facilities to the students,teachers and the general public.
In 1979,a college library building came into existence with a cost of Rs.5 lakhs.
In 1987-88,on the occasion of its silver jubilee celebrations,the main building was inaugurated which connected both  ’Science Soudha’ and ‘Dr.T.M.A.Pai building’. Lecturers Meeting room,Administration office and other departments were shifted in the new building. That time the students strength has risen to 1646. In 1993,on the occasion of Academy’s golden jubilee celebration,the administrative building was named ‘Academy golden jubilee Soudha’. In 1999, Shri Prabhakar Tolar indoor stadium was inaugurated with a donation of Rs.1 lakh from Shri Prabhakar Tolar. This became college’s pride building. It  became the center for the indoor games as well as students other physical exercises.
Mathematics,Physics,Statistics were introduced in the science section in 1989-90. Computer classes were started with a donation of Rs.1 lakh from Dr.V.K.Acharya. PGDCA in 1992-93,BBM and BCA in 2001-02,Journalism,English were added to the Arts section. The college came under Mangalore University affiliation in the year 1981. Academic year 2012-13 has seen the starting of Masters degree in commerce(M.Com) in the college.
‘Basket ball court’ came into existence in the year 2005-06 at a cost of Rs.275000/-. Dr.H.Shantharam Mathematics science soudha was constructed at a cost of Rs.18 lakhs in the year 2010.
College’s annual ‘Darshana’ magazine became popular all over Karnataka state. It has received 14 first prizes in the annual competitions conducted by Mangalore University since 1997-98.
University Financial Aid committee has awarded ‘A’ grade(324 points) to the college and this is really a proud moment for the institution.

Human Resources dept.,Students welfare dept.,security dept.,Lecturers Union,Free afternoon meals project, scholarships, free medical aid,old students association, girls hostel facilities were introduced in the college subsequently.
Central Computing facility,Documentary Archive,Language and history libraries and all the facilities for the students are available in the college. There are 42 different certificate courses available in the college. NSS and NCC wings are also active in the college.
The college administration,Principal,the non teaching staff, Professors, lecturers and students are trying to give more color to the golden jubilee celebrations of the college.

SOURCE: http://karavalitimes.com/web/archives/69787