History

There had long been a demand among the Hindi speaking communities of West Bengal for higher studies in their mother tongue. Hindi as a subject at UG and PG levels did exist before. But it was Srimati Mamata Banerjee, the Honb’le Chief Minister of West Bengal, who came forward to fulfill this legitimate demand for Higher Studies in Hindi Medium. Hindi speaking people lie scattered all over the state but their population density, leaving apart the border district Paschim Bardhaman, is mostly found in the districts of Hooghly (South East part), South 24 Parganas, Howrah and Kolkata. The town of Howrah is situated almost at the centre of this radius. No wonder that the State Government has judiciously chosen Howrah as the location of Hindi University and has opened up the entire State for its operational territory.

The Hindi University Act (West Bengal Act XXI of 2019), passed by the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, was Gazette-notified on 10 January, 2020. The 10th Day of January is, therefore, to be reckoned as the Foundation Day of Hindi University. Prof. Damodar Mishra, an eminent academician, was appointed the first Vice-Chancellor in December 2020, and the provisions of The HINDI UNIVERSITY ACT came into effect on 1st January, 2021 in terms of Government Notification dated 30.12.2021.

Despite the closure of academic institutions due to COVID 19, permission for teaching two Post Graduate courses – Hindi and Translation Studies – was received. Without wasting any time Syllabus was prepared and students admitted during 2020-2021– thanks to the dynamism of the first Vice-Chancellor.