Chaygaon

Etymology

The word Chaygaon is derived from two words Chay (six) and gaon (village) meaning six villages people from different religions are residing here at chhaygaon since a long period with their eternal faith and believe with each other and different people use bto come here to pay their homage to the ancient believe of chandika mandir, and merghar a n achievement of then chand sadagar for the story of mythological evidence of famous behula and lakhinder,the daughter in law and son of chand sadagar, the famous merchant of that ancient times.

History

In ancient times, Chaygaon was part of Kamapitha division of Kamarupa. In nineteenth century, it became part of undivided Kamrup district. In 2003 it was clubbed in Kamrup rural district.

Chand Sadagar's Merghar at Chaygaon

It is a site with which a mythological story is attached to a merchant named Chanda Saudagar and his son Lakhindar and his daughter-in-law Beula. The story goes that Chanda Saudagar, who was a devotee of Lord Siva, once got a curse from 'Nag Devata' (the God of Snake) that he would have no descendents any further as his only son would be killed on the latter's wedding nite. To prevent this, Lakhindar and his bride was confined in the "Merghar" (a specially built sealed house for the newly wed couple to prevent entry of snakes ) However, despite every effort, Lakhindar was bitten to death by 'Nag Devata' . It was Beula 's relentless offerings and prayers that saved her husband's life later on. Ruins of 'Merghar' and replica of Siva idols are still found around this site.

Chhaygaon College

Chhaygaon College is situated in Chhaygaon in the Kamrup District of Assam. The college volunteered to be assessed by the national assessment and accreditation Council (NAAC) and submitted its Self Study Report to NAAC in December 2003 NAAC constituted a Peer Team consisting of Prof. Ashis Kumar Roy Former Vice chancellor of Kalyani University, West Bengal as Chairman, Dr. Bijaylakshmi Mukherjee, Principal Basantidevi College, Kolkata, as Member and Dr. Iswar Chandra Jena, H.O.D of Commerce (Rtd.) M.P.C Autonomous College, Baripada, Mayurbhanj, Orissa, as Member Coordinator to visit the college and validate the self-study report. The peer team visited the college for two days from 20 to 21 September 2004.

The Chhaygaon College established in the year 1974 is the most important educational institution in the greater Chhaygaon, the home land of heterogenous racial elements and an economically backward rural area of South Kamrup. The college is located at an easily accessible site beside the National Highway number 37 at a distance of about 40 km west of Gauhati University and about 30 km from the Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport. It is a co-educational Institution providing instructions up to Three-Year Degree level in Arts and Commerce faculties and affiliated to Gauhati University. The Arts faculty of the college came under deficit system grants-in-aid of the Govt. of Assam in 1985. The College has received UGC recognition u/s 2f and 12 B of UGC Act with effect from February, 2004. The basic objective of this college is to provide quality education to students and to prepare them to meet the challenges of the competitive environment. It is built in an area of 4.93 acres of land and provides different support facilities to students namely administrative building, auditorium, gymnasium, computer lab, play ground, central library etc. The college has a total student strength of 364 in two UG Programmes. There are 24 permanent teachers, 13 temporary teachers and 2 part-time teachers. Of the permanent teachers 9 hold Ph.D degrees. The college has 12 numbers of non-teaching staff. The Peer Team carefully perused and analyzed the Self Study Report submitted by the institution. During the institutional visit, the team went through all the relevant documents and the facilities and interacted with the various constituents of the institution. The academic, co-curricular, extra curricular, sports and extension facilities of the institution were examined . The Peer Team also interacted at length with the President and Members of the Governing Body, Principal of the institution, faculty, non-teaching staff, student, parents and alumnae of the institution. Based on the above exercise and keeping in mind the criteria identified by NAAC, the Peer Team has taken the value judgement. The assessment of the institution under various criteria, the commendable features of the institution as well as the issues of concern are given in the following pages.

As an affiliated college of Gauhati University, the college follows the syllabi prescribed by the university. Within the broad frame-work, the syllabus provides flexibility to the students in the selection of general / major subjects both in Arts and Commerce. In the Arts discipline, the general students have the option of selecting electives from subjects, which include Economics, Education, Political Science, History, Philosophy, Hindi etc. The Students opting for Honours Course can take up major subjects in English, Assamese, Hindi, Economics, Education and Political Science. In Commerce, students can opt for B.Com (General) or B.Com (Hons) carrying 1700 and 2000 marks respectively. Honours is available in three major areas viz. Accounting, Management and Finance. In most of the subjects in arts faculty, there is more emphasis on knowledge and less on skill. The programmes of study are flexible to offer students the benefits of horizontal mobility and elective options. Board of Studies of the Gauhati University revises the syllabus for Arts and Commerce from time to time. However, it takes 2 to 3 years to introduce a new programme of study. Some of the teachers of the college are members in the University curriculum committee in certain subjects.

Transport

Chaygaon is at National Highway 37; is connected to nearby cities and towns with buses and other modes of transportation. It has a railway station at Dhobargaon while Guwahati International Airport is situated at a distance of 25 km.