B.Sc. Economics Department – St. Xavier's College (2024)

Dr. Partha Pratim Ghosh (PPG) , M.Sc., M.B.A., M.Phil., Ph.D.

Head of the Department

The Department of Economics is carrying forward its service to the college under the constant support, guidance and encouragement of the Rector and Principal of the college, Rev. Fr. Dr. Dominic Savio S.J. The faculty members along with the students of the department form a very cohesive team. The department has a total of six full time faculty members — Prof. Dr. Mallinath Mukherjee, Prof. Bipra Kumar Das, Prof. Dr. Ranjanendra Narayan Nag, Prof. Dr. Pia Ghoshal, Prof. Urmi Mukherjee and Prof. Dr. Partha Pratim Ghosh and (HOD). The department has been blessed by the constant support and guidance from Rev. Fr. Dr. J. Felix Raj S.J. (erstwhile Principal, St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata and Vice-Chancellor, St. Xavier’s University) and Rev. Fr. Dr. Dominic Savio S.J. (Principal, St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata) who have been part of the department, helping it achieve new heights and meet new challenges. The undergraduate course in Economics offered by the department is one of the best by any standards.

The faculty members not only participate in the teaching-learning process but also engage themselves in collaborative and individual research. Prof. Dr. Mukherjee, Prof. Dr. Nag Prof. Dr. Ghosh and Prof. Ghoshal have published papers in academic journals. Prof. Dr. Nag also enjoys the distinction of supervising dissertations at the M.Phil. and Doctoral levels. Prof. Dr. Ghosh has successfully completed a research project. Prof. Dr. Nag, Prof. Dr. Ghosh and Prof. Ghoshal have presented and co-authored papers at National and International Conferences.

The academic performance of the students has been brilliant. The placement record of students who have completed their under graduate course deserves a very special mention. They have secured admissions in various post graduate courses, premier institutes and business schools at home and abroad such as

• Indian Statistical Institute
• Delhi School of Economics
• Jawaharlal Nehru University
• Indira Gandhi Institute of
  Development Research, Mumbai
• Madras School of Economics, Chennai
• University of Calcutta
• Jadavpur University
• Banaras Hindu University
• Indian Institute of Management
• XLRI, Jamshedpur
• London School of Economics
• Oxford University
• Warrick University

Our students also take part in numerous academic and extracurricular fests of esteemed institutes and make the department proud by distinguishing themselves. Several papers are presented by the students of the department at various seminars every year. A number of these events were organized by the premier institutes listed below:

• IIT Kharagpur
• IIM Calcutta.
• Jadavpur University, Kolkata.
• St. Stephen’s College, Delhi.
• Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata
• Bengal Economic Association
• Presidency University, Kolkata
• St Xavier’s College, Mumbai
• St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata

The Economics Department seeks to strike an optimum balance between academic and co-curricular activities to promote students’ personality development along with academic grooming. The students of the department collaborated with the NSS Department to study the local rural economy of West Bengal to understand the rural problems and devise policy prescriptions to address the rural problems. They visited four villages of Debipur, Nurshidachowk, Paikhala and Hogulkuria in March and April 2017. They had very fruitful interactions with the villagers, on the basis of which the students prepared a report on every village. Their experiences and their suggestions were discussed in an interactive session supervised by Prof Kausik Gupta and Prof Ajitava Raychaudhuri. The Department of Economics, St Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata organized the twelfth edition of its Annual Economics Summit-Confluence on the 18th of September, 2017 with the theme “Globalization and the Indian Economy”. The theme for this day long Economics Summit aimed at critically evaluating the concept of globalization in the backdrop of the current Indian Economic landscape. Confluence XII was graced by Prof Kausik Gupta, Former Vice chancellor of West Bengal state University, Barasat, who was the Chief Guest for the occasion. Rev. Fr. Dr. Dominic Savio S.J. and Prof Kausik Gupta inaugurated Confluence XII and shared their insights regarding the theme of the event. The 17th edition of the departmental magazine, Eco Echoes was also launched during the programme.

The Panel Discussion witnessed the stalwarts of the economic circle of Calcutta exchanging their views on the topic “Macroeconomic management of Fiscal Deficit: The Indian Perspective”. Moderated by Prof Biswajit Chatterjee, this discussion saw the participation of Prof Ajitava Raychaudhuri, Prof Ambarnath Ghosh and Prof Byasdev Dasgupta, which immensely benefitted the audience during the session. One of the most intellectually stimulating events of the summit was ‘Exposition’ where students made use of their analytical skills and theoretical knowledge to delve deep into the issues of contemporary relevance. This year, the topics were aptly chosen to be ‘Monetary Policy in a developing economy’, ‘Globalisation and inequality’, ‘Oil price crisis’ and ‘Child labour in a developing economy.

Other events included two flagship events- ‘State of Affairs’ and ‘Crisis’, couple of online events like Investomania and Scriptus, which were equally challenging and saw participation from students in huge numbers. The summit also comprised of Debate and Quiz which sought to strengthen the spirit of inquiry and reason within the participants.

Economics Major is a three-year undergraduate programme, which is divided into six semesters. Currently the restructured syllabus is into its 2nd year. The aim of the course is to develop the basic tools of economic analysis used by economists working in research, academic institutions, government administration, non-governmental organizations and corporate sector. The course deals with both positive and normative issues. In particular, the course is a comprehensive blend of theory, quantitative methods and applications. Along with the use of mathematical-statistical methods and econometrics, the course is a perfect guide to creating future economists and researchers in different sectors with adequate knowledge in developmental and Indian economy. The course is designed at par with the courses of other standard Universities so that students will not face any problem while going for higher studies anywhere in India or abroad.

Some specific features of the course include:

• Creating an analytical mindset of students and helping students to develop logical acumen to apply economic concepts to real-world problems.
• Offering a clear perspective on emerging issues at the regional, national and international level.
  Specific emphasis on project-oriented study based on the use of necessary software.
• Exposure to the works of eminent economists and Nobel Laureates such as Joseph Stiglitz, Amartya Sen, Paul Krugman, Debraj Ray and Kaushik Basu, to name just a few.
• The course offers the following benefits:
• Study in a department renowned for consistently brilliant academic performance and placements of its students. In particular, the success rate of our students in different competitive examinations is absolutely phenomenal.
• Enables a student to draw upon the strengths acquired in Mathematics and English at intermediate level to gain, through teaching, assignment, project, classroom presentation and independent study, a rigorous understanding of even the most intricate issues of the subject and development of a social awareness.
• Prepares a student for a variety of careers in academia, the corporate world and government administration.
  Very helpful, committed and friendly faculty who encourage interactions between teachers and students. The mission of the department is to develop education as a holistic concept and put students at the centre of all concerns.
• Corporate placement through systematic co-ordination between the Department and well-functioning Placement Cell of the College.

The academic performance of the students has been brilliant. The placement record of students who have completed their under graduate course deserves a very special mention. They have secured admissions in various post graduate courses, premier institutes and business schools at home and abroad such as

• Indian Statistical Institute
• Delhi School of Economics
• Jawaharlal Nehru University
• Indira Gandhi Institute of
  Development Research, Mumbai
• Madras School of Economics, Chennai
• University of Calcutta
• Jadavpur University
• Banaras Hindu University
• Indian Institute of Management
• XLRI, Jamshedpur
• London School of Economics
• Oxford University
• Warrick University

Apart from getting admitted in premier institutes for higher studies, many of our students perform very well in the interviews organized by the placement cell of the college and obtain jobs in leading entrepreneurships. In their own capacity too, they get involved in very lucrative professions and make the department proud.

Our students also take part in numerous academic and extracurricular fests of esteemed institutes and make the department proud by distinguishing themselves. Several papers are presented by the students of the department at various seminars every year. A number of these events were organized by the premier institutes listed below:

• IIT Kharagpur
• IIM Calcutta
• Jadavpur University, Kolkata
• St. Stephen’s College, Delhi
• Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata
• Bengal Economic Association
• Presidency University, Kolkata
• St Xavier’s College, Mumbai
• St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata

The students form an integral part of the Xavier’s Economics Society which was inaugurated in 2012 by the erstwhile Principal, St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous). Kolkata, Rev Father Dr. J. Felix Raj S.J. (Vice Chancellor, St.Xavier’s University). Since then the society has achieved many heights.

In 2012 the society organized the annual National Economics Summit- Confluence. The Chief Guest for the event was Prof. Partha Sen from Delhi School of Economics. The Summit saw participation from colleges like Lady Shri Ram College, New Delhi, St. Stephen’s College, New Delhi, St. Joseph’s College, Bangalore and many other eminent colleges. The Summit offered many intellectually stimulating events such as Paper Presentation, Debate and Quiz. The students gained immense perspective by attending various lectures on “Indian Economic Policies: Rework or Reimplementation”, the theme for that year, by many eminent speakers like Prof. Anindya Sen from IIM, Calcutta.

After the great success of Confluence in 2012 the society organized the annual event with much grandeur in the following years. In 2013 the theme for Confluence was “Financial Crisis in Recent Times”. The Chief Guest was Prof. Abhirup Sarkar. Just like the previous years the students enjoyed lectures by leading economists. Participation continued from reputed colleges. In 2014, the theme for Confluence was, “Economic Reforms and Inclusive Growth”. The Chief Guest was Dr. Achin Chakraborthy, Director Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata. There was enthusiastic participation from colleges across India. In 2015 the Department of Economics, St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata organized the tenth Edition of Confluence with the theme “India in the Global Perspective”. Confluence X was inaugurated by Prof. Sugata Marjit, Honorable, Vice Chancellor, Calcutta University who was the chief guest for the occasion.

Confluence 2016 was based on “India: An Emerging Giant or An Uncertain Glory”. The Chief guest was Mr. Rajib Banerjee, Hon’ble Minister of Irrigation & Waterways, West Bengal. Confluence XII was graced by Prof Kausik Gupta, Former Vice chancellor of West Bengal state University, Barasat, who was the Chief Guest for the occasion. Rev. Fr. Dr. Dominic Savio S.J. and Prof Kausik Gupta inaugurated Confluence XII and shared their insights regarding the theme of the event.

Each year the Society launches it Economics Journal – Eco Echoes. This endeavour is undertaken by students with guidance from teachers. The themes have been as follows, 2010: India: Free or Fettered?, 2011: The Indian Economy: Fundamental issues, 2012: Keynes’s Revenge: Capitalism at Crossroads?, 2013: Footnotes of Yesterday, Headlines of Today: Brazil, India, China, South Africa. 2014: Rebuilding India : A Story of Contradictions, 2015: India in the Global Perspective, 2016: Indian Economy: An Emerging Giant Or An Uncertain Glory? The 17th edition of the departmental magazine, Eco Echoes was also launched during the programme of Confluence XII.

Department Report

Annual Report 2018

BOS

• Boards of Studies

Faculty

• View Faculty

Students Activities

• Students Activities
• XES Report

Syllabus and Q-Bank

Course Structure

• U.G. Syllabus (new) w.e.f. 2023
• U.G. CBCS Syllabus w.e.f. 2018

Restructured Syllabus (wef 2013 -2014)

• Honours
• Ancillary Science
• Ancillary Arts