Women’s Christian College

A govt. Aided College
NAAC accredited with "B++" grade
Affiliated to the University of Calcutta
AISHE CODE : C11920
Estd. 19th July, 1945

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Economics Department

Teachers Profile

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Dr. Sudeshna Biswas

Associate Professor & Head of the Department

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Dr. Mousumi Kar

Associate Professor

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Dr. Arnab Majumdar

Assistant Professor

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Priyonkon Chatterjee

Guest Faculty

About

Being one of the earliest departments of the college, this department has traversed a long way in course of all these years. The earliest teachers whose contributions served as the building blocks of this department were Mr. Mohanlal Mozaria, Sri Saral Chatterjee, Ms.Agnes Rapaz, Rvd. Arunodoy Mondal, Mr. Binod Cyril Gomes and Dr. Dipayan Dutta Chaudhuri.

The career progression of the students after passing out of the college has been in wide ranging areas. Many students of this department are making further career advancements not only with Post – Graduation in different Indian Universities but also with higher studies in some demanding interdisciplinary areas like Business Management, Mass Communication, Information Technology and Film Studies. The students of this department have made their marks in the academic field also by occupying prominent positions in schools, colleges and pursuing research and studies in reputed Foreign Universities as well. Besides, there are many departmental students who are having prominent positions in the corporate sector. They are working in some of the leading Banks, Information Technology Sector, Economic Research Organizations and NGOs.

NEW SUBJECT COMBINATIONS AVAILABLE WITH ECONOMICS HONOURS

Statistics
Journalism and Mass Communication apart from Mathematics
Political Science
Sociology and Education

 

DEPARTMENTAL LIBRARY

The Departmental library is an invaluable asset of the Department of Economics. The Department is really proud of having approximately 250 textbooks of Economics including 30 Bengali books, 12 text books of Environmental Studies and a handful of different issues of Reports and Journals.
The Department is also grateful to Prof. B.C. Gomes for his generous contribution in developing the fund for this unique property of the Department. Apart from the profuse support given to the Students with Economics as Honours subject the library also serves the purpose of the students with Economics as a general subject as well. The students are overwhelmingly enthusiastic about going to the library and taking books from there for its convenient access and generous rules.

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Academic Activities

Certificate Courses

ADD-ON COURSE ON DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

REPORT

DAY 1 (23.05.2023)

  • Inaugural Session 

The Add-on course  on Development Studies was inaugurated on 23rd May, 2023 at 12 noon, with magnificence with the presence of  more than 60 students of the Departments of Economics of three reputed colleges of Kolkata namely Women’s Christian College (the host of the inaugural session, here in after WCC), St. Paul’s Cathedral Mission College (here in after SPCMC) and Moulana Azad College (here in after MAC), the faculty members of the Departments of Economics of the three colleges and the guests of honour. Dr. Mausumi Kar, Associate Professor of Economics, WCC conducted the session with the august presence of  the Hon’ble Principal Madam, Prof. (Dr.) Ajanta Paul.  Dr. Kar mentioned the purpose and objective of  conducting such course and thanked the faculty members of  the other colleges for their assistance in designing the course curriculum for this well-shaped  course on  development studies to be offered in a blended mode with a vision to enrich  the participants on diverse aspects of development studies without making them burdened with the course work. 

The welcome address was then offered by the Principal Madam of WCC, without whose all round support, motivation and inspiration, it would not have been possible to organize the event in such a stature. Dr. Jaya Mukherjee, Head of the Department of Economics, St. Paul’s C. M. College and Shri Ujjwal Chattopadhyay, Associate Professor of Economics, Maulana Azad College also addressed the audience. The Head of the Department of Economics of Women’s Christian College, Dr. Sudeshna Biswas introduced the Chief guest of the inaugural session, Prof. Soumyen Sikdar, the extraordinary teacher and mentor, formerly attached to the Department of Economics, University of Calcutta and Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta and invited him to offer his inaugural lecture.  It was really an amazing and thought-provoking lecture on ‘Rise and Fall of Globalisation and India’ , offered by Prof. Sikdar that had kept the audience  spell bound for about an hour.  The participants and the faculty present there were grateful to Prof. Sikdar for offering such splendid food for thought that actually marked the beginning of an immensely interesting course work to be continued for a month’s span.   After the inaugural lecture, another senior faculty member of WCC, Dr. Arnab Majumdar offered his vote of thanks and announced the end of the first part of the inaugural session. 

The second session of the day started with the introduction of the other guest of honour, Dr. Simantini Mukhopadhay, Assistant Professor of Economics, IDSK by Dr. Arnab Majumdar. Dr. Mukhopadhyay presented a very well –thought lecture on ‘Human development and Inequalities in It’. The presentation encompassed different income-based and non-income based parameters of Human Development and indicators of inequality and was truly inspiring for the students willing to study Development Studies, especially Development Economics.

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DAY 2 (24.05.2023):

Two sessions each for one and half hours duration was scheduled for the 2nd day of the Add-on  course at Women’s Christian College, Kolkata from 12 noon onwards. The speaker of the first session was Dr. Mausumi Kar, Associate Professor of Economics, WCC and her title of talk was ‘Trade and Development: Some Contemporary Theoretical Issues’. She elaborated special issues of international trade ranging from traditional to contemporary framework including virtual trade with Time-Zone differences, outsourcing of services and other interesting issues in the backdrop of digital revolution. Students took ample curiosity in the conceptual ideas and examples shown and participated in the discussion with great enthusiasm and attention. Then Dr. Arnab Majumdar, Assistant Professor of Economics, WCC spoke on ‘Development Issues in Indian Industry’. Students were very much cooperative and claimed that they took interest in the sessions.

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DAY 3 (27.05.2023):

The lectures on the third day of the course was designed to be offered in the online mode and was arranged by WCC. Two consecutive lectures, each for one and half hours duration were offered on Demographic studies. The first speaker was, Dr. Senjuti Saha, Associate Professor and HOD, Department of Geography, WCC and the title of her presentation was ‘Demography – A Key to Development’. The Second speaker was Dr. Sudeshna Biswas, Associate Professor and HOD, Department of Economics, WCC and she presented on ‘Demographic Dividend and Youth Unemployment’. The presentations were very lucid, receptive to the young pupils and indicative of a very important path of development, namely the demographic transitions, yet they differ in the approaches of stride, the former being the Geographer’s perception while the later is precisely from a much more technical and economic point of view. 

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DAY 4 (31.05.2023):

The fourth class of this add-on course was a three-hour practical session that was held in the computer lab of St. Paul's Cathedral Mission College on 31st May, 2023. This class was attended by 56 students. The session was conducted by Dr. Suparna Gangopadhyay, Associate Professor & Head, Department of Economics, Surendranath College for Women. 

The topic of her session was “Application of STATA on Economic Data: An Introductory Approach”. In this session, the students were given a hands-on training on handling statistical data for analyzing different issues of development studies using the statistical software STATA. The students thoroughly enjoyed this session as they learnt the application of different economic theories to real life data. Dr. Gangopadhyay addressed all the queries of the students and the session extended well beyond the scheduled hours.

DAY 5 (09.06.2023):

The fifth class was held on 9th June in the Sesquicentenary Seminar Hall of St. Paul's Cathedral Mission College from 11 am to 2pm. Dr Shirsendu Mukherjee, Associate Professor in the Department of Economics of St. Paul’s C. M. College, conducted this three-hour session on “Environment and Development”. The session was attended by 33 students. The attendance was relatively low in this session compared to the other sessions because the Semester 4 results were published on that day and the students were very tensed on account of that. However, those who attended had a highly interactive session. This session gave the students an exposure to some burning environmental issues affecting the world today and efforts made at the international level to deal with these problems.

DAY 6 (12.06.2023):

The Department of Economics, Maulana Azad College was one of the collaborators of the Add-On Course on Development Studies initiated by the Department of Economics, Women’s Christian College, Kolkata; the course was held during May-June, 2023. 

As a collaborating institution, Maulana Azad College, Kolkata conducted the three hours’ lecture session delivered by Shri Ujjwal Chattopadhyay, Associate Professor of Economics, Maulana Azad College on 12th June, 2023. Shri Chattopadhyay delivered his lectures in the Seminar Room of the college; the topic of his lecture was “Cultural Studies and Thoughts of Economic Development”.

DAY 7 (14.06.2023):

The seventh class of the course was held online from 10.45 am to 2pm with a 15 minutes break from 12.15 to 12.30. Because of the extreme heat and humidity, students were finding it difficult to commute and so this class was held on the Google Workspace platform. The first one and half hour session was conducted by Dr Jaya Mukherjee, Associate Professor and Head, Department of Economics, St. Paul’s C. M. College. The topic of her lecture was “The Social Route to Development”. She gave the students an idea about the crucial role played by social sectors in the development process of nations. The second lecture, also of one and half hour duration, was delivered by Dr Sudeshna Mitra, Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics of St. Paul’s C. M. College. Her topic was “Trade and Development”. She introduced the students to the impact of trade liberalization on the formal and informal sectors of developing countries.

DAY 8 (21.06.2023)

On the eighth day of the Add-on Course there were two online sessions of duration one and half hours each conducted by Maulana Azad College. In the first session Dr. Madhumita Sen, Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Sociology, Government General Degree College for Women, Ekbalpore, Kolkata delivered her lecture on “Women in the Context of Development: the Myth and the Reality. The speaker  of the second session was Dr. Kingshuk Sarkar, Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Economics, Goa Institute of Management. His deliberation was on “The State of Labour Market in India”. 

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DAY 9 (27.06.2023)

Prof. Santanu Ghosh delivered the concluding lecture of the course on June 21, 2023; the theme of his lecture was “Institutional Issues in Agrarian Development” and the session was conducted in the Seminar Room of Maulana Azad College, Kolkata.

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Concluding Day (28.06.2023):

The Add-on course on Development Studies was completed on 28th of June, 2023 at 12 noon with splendor as all the participants were in high spirits.  The Principal of Women’s Christian College, Prof. (Dr.) Ajanta Paul has addressed the participants, encouraged them and thanked them for successfully completing this 30 hour long course. The two senior professors Dr. Indrani Banerjee of St. Paul’s Cathedral Mission College  and Professor Santanu Ghosh of Maulana Azad College also addressed the audience. Dr. Sudeshna Biswas, Head of the Department of Economics, Women’s Christian College introduced the chief guest of the Valedictory Session, Prof. Achin Chakraborty, Professor and Former Director, Institute of Development Studies Kolkata. Prof. Chakraborty explained the importance and relevance of development studies in today’s Social Science curricula. 

The students also participated in the evaluation test and after successful evaluation, the participants were offered Course-Completion certificates by the guest of honour and our Honourable Principal Madam. The certificate distribution programme was conducted by Dr. Jaya Mukherjee, Associate Professor and Head, Department of Economics, St. Paul’s C. M. College.. 

With a thanks note the Valedictory session came to an end. Everyone associated with the entire course happily agreed to conduct this in coming years also. 

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Awards

MOUs

Distinguished Alumna

Noted Alumnae (Academics)

Gauri De Das

Former Head, Department of Economics

Lady Brabourne College

1998

Dr. Sanchita G Chowdhury

Associate Professor & Head

Department of Economics, XITE Gramharia

2007

Rajyasri Chakrabarty

SACT I, Sivnath Sastri College

2009

Dr. Debarati Das

Assistant Professor, Department of Economics

Kandra College, Paschim Bardhaman

2016

Rimjhim Roy

Assistant Teacher, Lions Calcutta (Greater) Vidya Mandir

2020

Depannita Ghosh

Research Analyst, National Council of Applied Economic Research

2021

Subarna Roy Chowdhury

Doctoral Student in South Asian University, New Delhi

1998

Swatilekha Maiti

Director – Business Operations, Experience & Analytics at Microsoft

2012

Hurshita Das

Territory Manager, IDFC First Bank

2015

Relansi Gupta

Consultant, Frost & Sullivan, Chennai

2017

Bipasa Banerjee

Doctoral Student in the Department of Sociology at the University of Texas at Austin

2017

Priyanka Mukherjee

Self-Employed with Distributorship of Text Books

2018

Shivangi Pandey

Cloud Financial Analyst II at Thermofisher Scientific

2018

Shreshtha Sarbadhyaksha

Data Analyst at Heineken

Result

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1 Result

Student Progression

Departmental Notices

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Research

Project

Facilities

Activities

The Department of Economics organizes seminars, special lectures and Students’ Seminars for the overall development of its students.

  • The faculty of the Department of Economics always encourage the students to grow their sense of reasoning and improve their understanding of the subject by organizing and involving them in Group discussions and lecture presentations.

⛬ 2017-18

  • A quiz competition was organised in the college campus by ‘ National Stock Exchange (NSE)’ Kolkata in November, 2017 and some students of the Department of Economics were shortlisted and invited to participate in the ‘ City Final’ held in Presidency College in February, 2018. A group of two students stood at 5th position out of 20 finalist colleges of Kolkata. They were significantly benefitted from being a part of this national level quiz programme and got certificates of excellences.
  • A unique effort of the department is to organise the workshop, entitled “ One Day
    Workshop on the Benefits of Choosing Economics As a Career Option” on the 6th of February, 2017 in the college auditorium. The programme was attended by the students of 10+2 level of some of the prominent schools’ students of South Kolkata, among which St. John’s Diocesan, United Missionary, Bidya Bharati , Apeejay School, Kamala Girls’ to name a few.Following some expertise view on the subject, The budding Economists or the students of this college exhibited a power point presentation displaying the infrastructural facilities, innovative teaching techniques, access to information, opportunities and exposures the students of this college are entitled to, with certainly a touch of Economics in every periphery of the discussion. Economics was briefly analysed here as ‘ A New Age Subject’ and with a hint at reasons on why it stands out among a host of other subjects. The workshop concluded with an interactive session held among the school students and the college faculty members of the Economics department.
  • The next consecutive “One Day Workshop on the Benefits of Choosing Economics As a Career Option” was organised by the Department of Economicson the 30th October, 2017 in the college auditorium. This was reinforced by the revered Principal of the institution, Dr. Ajanta Paul along with the efforts of the faculty members as well as the present students. Students from prominent schools of Kolkata, namely, Patha Bhawan, Bidya Bharti, United Missionaries, Kamala Girls’ etc. attended the programme. Ardent students of Xl and Xll standards who are interested in taking up Economics as a career choice from different streams were accompanied by their school teachers in the seminar. For collegiates, participating in the presentation beside conducting the whole workshop was a colossal platform to showcase their proficiency with flair. But then, this institution has always been a guide to the students in all realm of academics with humble brace of their endearment.

⛬ 2016

  • The students of our department again participated in the 11th Annual Economics Summit, ‘CONFLUENCE’ organised by St, Xavier’s College held in September, 2016 and presented their research paper successfully.
    The students were substantially benefitted to get the chance of preparing research papers and presenting them in an academic platform. This encourages them to make in-depth study on a particular economic issue and to inculcate research interest in themselves.
  • The Department has recently organized a Special Lecture by Prof. Anjan Kumar Chakraborty of University of Calcutta. Prof. Chakraborty delivered his lecture on ‘Capital, Technology and Sex: Interpreting Female Foeticide in India’ in the college auditorium on 4th of November, 2016.

PREVIOUS YEARS (SOME IMPORTANT ACTIVITIES)

  • The students of the Department of Economics along with a few other students from other departments actively participated in the interactive session of aTelevision show on Financial Planning conducted by ‘Unit Trust of India- Mutual Fund Division’. The programme named ‘Swatantra’ was telecast on 10th October, 2015 at the Channel ‘ET Now’.
  • The Department has organized a humble tribute to the Noble Laureate of Economics in 1994, Prof. John Nash,who was also a Stalwart Mathematician and Game Theorist, after his sad demise on 23rd May, 2015. The tribute was organized on 4th of July, 2015 by showing ‘A Beautiful Mind’, the Oscar-winning film inspired by the life of Prof. John Nash. to the students of the Department followed by a brief introduction about his contributions to the Economic Sciences. The students took great interest and enriched by this initiative taken by the department.
  • The students of this department were also motivated and encouraged to participate in the UGC-sponsoredNational Level Seminar on ‘Global Economic Crisis: Impact, Lessons and Recovery’ organized by the Department of Economics, Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira, Belur on 29th of August, 2015. The students were absolutely overwhelmed hearing the discussion on Global Economic Crisis which is a burning topic for the teachers, students and professionals of today’s world. Dr. Mausumi Kar accompanied the students in this national level seminar.
  • The departmental students enthusiastically participated in theAnnual Economics Summit, ‘CONFLUENCE’ organized by the St. Xavier’s College,Kolkata every year. Confluence is a Prestigious, National level Summit for the young students of Economics to exhibit their individual as well as collective skills. Our students also took part in this gala programme in the last three consecutive years and a team of two , Rukma Sengupta and Soumita Nandi, representing the college in Quiz competition, were declared as the Third prize winner in 2014. Other students also succeeded in acquiring the Certificates of Merits in various events in which they had participated in 2014 and 2015. The Head of the Department, Dr. Mausumi Kar also took part in the summit as an Invited Judge in the event of paper presentation.
  • The students of 3rd year with Hons. in Economics also attended the annual students’ meet, ‘ECOLORE’ organized by the department of Economics, Loreto College, Kolkata along with their Head of the Department, Dr. Mausumi Kar who acted as a judge in the event of paper presentation in this meet. Rukma Sengupta, one student of this department also got the prize for Poster making in Ecolore, 2014.
  • A UGC Sponsored National Level Seminar on ‘Competition and Competitiveness in Indian Industries after Two Decades of Economic Reform’ was organized on 2nd April, 2012, in collaboration with Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, where eminent scholars from different reputed Indian institution like IGIDR, Mumbai; IIM Calcutta; ISI Delhi; NISM, Mumbai; IDS Kolkata; CSSSC, Kolkata; University of Calcutta and University of Jadavpur had participated.
  • The students of the Department of Economics presented a paper on “Balance of Payment Crisis and Capital Flow in India” in the 9th Annual Economics Summit, “CONFLUENCE” organized by St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata held on 16th September, 2014.

SEMINARS

  • A UGC Sponsored National Level Seminar on ‘Competition and Competitiveness in Indian Industries after Two Decades of Economic Reform’ was organized on 2nd April, 2012, in collaboration with Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, where eminent scholars from different reputed Indian institution like IGIDR, Mumbai; IIM Calcutta; ISI Delhi; NISM, Mumbai; IDS Kolkata; CSSSC, Kolkata; University of Calcutta and University of Jadavpur had participated.
  • The Department has organized a humble tribute to the Noble Laureate of Economics in 1994, Prof. John Nash, who was also a Stalwart Mathematician and Game Theorist, after his sad demise on 23rd May, 2015. The tribute was organized on 4th of July, 2015 by showing ‘A Beautiful Mind’, the Oscar-winning film inspired by the life of Prof. John Nash. to the students of the Department followed by a brief introduction about his contributions to the Economic Sciences. The students took great interest and enriched by this initiative taken by the department.
  • The students of this department were also motivated and encouraged to participate in the UGC-sponsored National Level Seminar on ‘Global Economic Crisis: Impact, Lessons and Recovery’ organized by the Department of Economics, Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira, Belur on 29th of August, 2015. The students were absolutely overwhelmed hearing the discussion on Global Economic Crisis which is a burning topic for the teachers, students and professionals of today’s world. Dr. Mausumi Kar accompanied the students in this national level seminar.
  • The departmental students enthusiastically participated in the Annual Economics Summit, ‘CONFLUENCE’ organized by the St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata every year. Confluence is a Prestigious, National level Summit for the young students of Economics to exhibit their individual as well as collective skills. Our students also took part in this gala programme in the last three consecutive years and a team of two , Rukma Sengupta and Soumita Nandi, representing the college in Quiz competition, were declared as the Third prize winner in 2014. Other students also succeeded in acquiring the Certificates of Merits in various events in which they had participated in 2014 and 2015.
  • The Head of the Department, Dr. Mausumi Kar also took part in the summit as an Invited Judge in the event of paper presentation.
  • The students of the Department of Economics along with a few other students from other departments actively participated in the interactive session of a Television show on Financial Planning conducted by ‘Unit Trust of India- Mutual Fund Division’. The programme named ‘Swatantra’ was telecast on 10th October, 2015 at the Channel ‘ET Now’.
  • The students of 3rd year with Hons. in Economics also attended the annual students’ meet, ‘ECOLORE’ organized by the department of Economics, Loreto College, Kolkata along with their Head of the Department, Dr. Mausumi Kar who acted as a judge in the event of paper presentation in this meet. Rukma Sengupta, one student of this department also got the prize for Poster making in Ecolore, 2014.
  • The Department has recently organized a Special Lecture by Prof. Anjan Kumar Chakraborty of University of Calcutta. Prof. Chakraborty delivered his lecture on ‘Capital, Technology and Sex: Interpreting Female Foeticide in India’ in the college auditorium on 4th of November, 2016.
  • The faculty of the Department of Economics always encourage the students to grow their sense of reasoning and improve their understanding of the subject by organizing and involving them in Group discussions and lecture presentations.
  • The latest activity of the department was to organize the second “ One Day Workshop on the Benefits of Choosing Economics As a Career Option” held on the 6th of February, 2017 at the college auditorium with untiring extensive efforts of the faculty members along with the present students and with the constant support of the revered principal, Dr. Ajanta Paul . The programme was attended by some of the prominent schools’ students of South Kolkata, among which St. John’s Diocesan, United Missionary, Bidya Bharati , Apeejay School, Kamala Girls’ to name a few. Enthusiastic students those were interested in taking up Economics as a career choice in the near future, of the eleventh and twelfth standards were present, accompanied by their school teachers.
  • Following some proficient view on the subject, the budding Economists or the students of this college exhibited a power point presentation prepared by them and deciphered through engrossing speeches. The presentation projected the infrastructural facilities, innovative teaching techniques, access to information, opportunities and exposures the students of this college are entitled to, with certainly a touch of Economics in every periphery of the discussion. The workshop concluded with an interactive session held among the school students and the college faculty members of the Economics department.
  • This was an enriching experience for one and all present there with every individual parting with new information gathered from the workshop. For the students yet to decide a career in Economics had a clear notion regarding ‘Why Economics? What to do or take in order to pursue Economics for under graduation? And most importantly, what after Economics is already a choice made?
  • For the students of this college, participating in the presentation besides conducting the whole workshop with ultimate panache, this was a prodigious platform to showcase their proficiency with flair. But then, this college has always been about showing belief and supporting students in all spheres over and above academics.

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