Mamata Banerjee lays foundation of Presidency's second campus
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday laid the foundation stone for the second campus of the prestigious Presidency University at Rajarhat near here.

In her speech, Banerjee said the University should aim at achieving the No.1 status in the world and her government would render all help for that.

“The state has already alloted 10 acres of land and Rs 10 crore to Presidency University and it is an investment in the promise of quality education... It''s our intention with a vision for tomorrow,” she said.

“To decide on the best utilisation of this second campus, a convention involving students, faculty and officers of the University, the Presidency Mentor Group has been planned,” Vice-chancellor Malabika Sarkar told PTI.

Professor Sugato Bose of the Mentor Group said the second campus will have new scientific laboratories on the lines of foreign universities.

Meanwhile, the chief minister suggested that on the completion of 200 years of the University in 2017, authorities should organise a ''World Education Summit''.

Besides being recognised by the UGC as an institution of ''National Eminence'', the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development has cited the University as a ''Role Model'' for other states to emulate.

Founded in 1817, Presidency was granted full university status in 2010. Its illustrious alumni include Academy Award winner filmmaker Satyajit Ray, Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen, physicists Satyendra Nath Bose and Meghnad Saha, nationalist leader ''Netaji'' Subhas Chandra Bose and India''s first President Dr Rajendra Prasad.