NSHM Knowledge Campus BCA Review By Rupam Shri

It was 2017 when I completed by BCA(H), Graduation Program from NSHM Knowledge Campus, Durgapur of Batch 2014-2017. Though it has been a long time, the days spent there are fresh in my mind and always will be. I will try to pen down some of the best and crucial days, the features and drawbacks of the institution, my earnings, and my losses at and about the institution throughout in short. The new session normally starts here in July – August. And my journey started with the Hostel accommodation first. Since the hostel is within the campus area it was one of a reason to join NSHM Durgapur. I had a checklist for a good college i.e., a good spacious Hostel and a hygienic Canteen to solve all my accommodation & food problems, a huge campus with a beautiful view including the viability of all the survival needs within the college premises, which I could find only in this institute. Moving ahead with real college life, all the freshers were welcomed by the seniors and the faculties with induction and a fresher party followed by an annual fest in the very first month of the session. We also had senior students at the hostel to guide us with the hostel rules and the new place outside the campus as well. As the days passed the excitement of new life went down and the days became harder with 9 am to 4 pm lectures. However, it was worth attending to end up with such a happening life I am living now.

NSHM, Durgapur has carefully managed to design the academic to deliver the best to us. We have the different infrastructure for different subject wings respectively with dedicated faculties and counselors. The main wings were Hotel Management, Business and Management, and the Diploma and Engineering Block. I belonged to the Business and Management Block where programs like BBA, BCA, BHM, B-Optometry, and MBA were taken care of.

Some of our classes were conducted in normal classrooms for the first two years and some in the Computer lab. However, in the final year, we spent the whole day in the Computer Lab having lectures. We had amazing people to guide us throughout the journey Especially our HOD was the coolest person I had ever met. He was the perfect blend of knowledge and generosity. We had 2 Internships which was organized by the college with the collaboration of other organization. Finally, we had to work on a major project which was Online School Management Desktop Application but, to be honest, I was not satisfied with the same as we did not receive much help from the teachers and so we could barely learn anything. I think the college should work on this part as when I moved out, I realized how much practical knowledge is important.

However, many big companies used to hire students from NSHM, but the job roles and salary structure were not very good. Campus placement was not up to the expectation of the students since most of the people very hired for BPO and not for tech jobs. I was the person who did not take up any interview some I missed due to personal issues and some I skipped due to the job roles but 1 which was from Cognizant was the last company I went up for and was selected as a Programmer Trainee with a CTC of 2.74LPA which even went hard for me when I got an in-hand amount of Rs12,611 as my first salary. I worked for 2 months and left as I felt MCA could help me get a better salary and learn. I think College should really consider Placements on a serious note as the investment on education is comparatively very high from the return of investment when we get a job.

The Hostel at NSHM Durgapur is one of the best parts of the institute be it in infrastructure, environment, facility, and the people in charge. We had two hostels specifically 1 Block for Boys and the other for Girls. The Girl Hostel was quite spacious and beautiful. The rooms have 3 types, the first type had 4 beds, the other 3 beds, and 1 bed. A common table and chairs in multiple beds were given to every room. The Cupboards were also quite good to keep all our stuff safe. We were not allowed to keep any electrical Appliances like Iron, Induction, Immersion Rod, etc.

Attendance was taken by the warden every day after 9:30 pm to keep a check on everyone is inside the hostel before the hotel gate closes sharply by 9:30 pm. There was a Leave application which was needed to be signed by the warden and the class teacher to apply for leave and stay out of the hostel. Every floor had a water chiller which was the best thing for summers. Huge Mirrors were there all the way along the stairs to dress up. Wide areas and a common hall were there to watch TV or join everyone for a meet or chit-chat.

Every department had a separate building, wide playgrounds, hostels, canteen, ponds, fountains, grass way, cafeteria, library, kitchen, and indoor sports room gave us a really nice environment that we barely wanted to move out of the campus. We had most of the fun on the campus itself. We were free to move in the campus, reach out the food court, cafeteria and the canteen anytime.

The campus had a healthy environment as we got to meet a number of different students like us from different corners of north India. We had an annual sport where the whole college was divided into 4 groups N S H M as the respective house names and we had a number of sports and competitions. I was into sports a lot and was a Basketball player so the sports week on the Campus always had my heart.