RC Laloo kick starts golden jubilee celebrations
SHILLONG: From a humble beginning, the Shillong Commerce College has grown from strength to strength in the past decades and would touch the 50-year milestone next year.
On the occasion, Deputy Chief Minister in charge Education, RC Laloo inaugurated the yearlong Golden Jubilee celebration of the college besides laying the foundation stone of its new building on Friday.
Addressing the gathering on the occasion, Laloo said that it was during his tenure as the Education Minister that the State Government had decided to take over the administration of the Shillong Commerce College.
Laloo also recalled that he had to table a Bill for a second time since there was an objection from one of the MLAs that there was a mistake in the name of the college when the Bill was tabled in the Assembly for the first time.
The deputy chief minister admitted that being an inexperienced legislator, and elected for the first time, he was not able to detect the flaws that were there in the Bill.
Laloo said that he had to table the Bill again in the Assembly after correcting the errors in the name of the college.
The deputy chief minister also lauded the college for its contribution towards growth and development of education in the State.
The president of the governing body, T Mark said that the college started on a humble note in line with Guwahati Commerce College.
He also said that at that time, it was only St Anthony’s College which started the Commerce stream beginning with an evening shift.
He also said that there is a plan to set up allied courses associated with commerce like chartered accountancy, company citizenship among others.
The Principal of Shillong Commerce College, JB Massar said that it is a matter of pride that the college excelled over the years.
The College, which was set up in 1967, made a beginning from a small structure at the plot of land where the Islamia Secondary School is presently housed.
It first started with the pre-university (Commerce) courses as an evening college with 109 students with nine full time and an equal number of part time teachers.
In the year 1968-1969, the number of students increased to 147. It was in 1969 that the college was shifted to the present location at Boyce Road.
However, the degree course started in 1969-1970 with 11 students in the day section and 28 in the evening section.
The Shillong Commerce College which was previously known as the Commerce College Shillong was the first full- fledged Commerce College in the Hill region when the State was still under Assam.
However, the College Governing Body decided to close down the college on April 1, 1977.
The college was allowed to function again after the Meghalaya government took over the administration of the college in 1984.
The first academic session was started in 1986 after the North Eastern Hill University granted permission for re-opening the college.