Jagannath Barooah (J.B.) College, Jorhat was established in 1930. It is one of the premier institute of higher education in Jorhat City with rich cultural heritage and glorious historical background in the upper part of the Brahmaputra Valley of Assam.

The college is affiliated to Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh and recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC) under section 2(f) & 12(B) Act, 1956. It is accredited by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) with "B+" Grade.

Brief History:

Since its inception in 1930, the college has already marched a long way and has celebrated its “Platinum Jubilee” in the year 2005.

Behind the establishment of this premier seat of higher education lies the selfless and enthusiastic commitment of a tiny but highly learned group of scholars of this culturally rich city who, in fact, shaped the destiny of the academic milieu of the North East region in general and the entire Brahmaputra valley in particular.

The valuable contributions made by this dedicated group had subsequently led to the formal initiation of an institution known as Upper Assam College in Jorhat on 19th August 1930. Less than a month later, i.e., on 4th September 1930, the first Governing Body (GB) Meeting of the Upper Assam College resolved to name the college as Jorhat College and this continued till 1938 when, in a resolution of another GB Meeting, it was again decided to renamed the college as Jagannath Barooah College in the memory of Jagannath Barooah, the first Graduate of Upper Assam. Late Murulidhar Barooah, the grand-son of Jagannath Barooah donated the entire land and the Barpatra Kutir (existing office and teachers’ common room) to the college.

The founder principal of this oldest institution of the region was Prof. Krishna Kanta Handique, world renowned orientalist, distinguished scholar and academician. The other dedicated founder teachers were Prof.

Tulshi Narayan Sarma (Founder Secretary), Jagneswar Sarma, Phanidhar Dutta, Prafulla Pran Changkakati and Gunagobinda Dutta. With a small batch of 14 students in 1930, the college was started first with Intermediate of Arts (IA) which received formal affiliation from Calcutta University in 1931.

Thereafter, the events of the college moved rapidly. In 1939, the Intermediate of Commerce (I.Com.), in 1941 the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), in 1944 the Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com.), in 1949-50 the Intermediate of Science (I.Sc.) and in 1952-53 the Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) streams were opened. From 1931 to 1948, the college was affiliated to the Calcutta University and from 1948 to 1965 to the Gauhati University. Since the establishment of Dibrugarh University (DU) in 1965, the college has been affiliated to it.

The college now has a diversified field of teaching. Currently it has 19 departments, viz., Assamese, Bengali, Botany, Chemistry, Commerce, Computer Science, Economics, English and Functional English, Geography, Geology, Hindi, History, Mathematics, Philosophy, Physics and Electronics, Political Science, Sanskrit, Statistics and Zoology. Except Bengali, Hindi and Computer Science, all other subjects have Major Courses at the Degree level.

The post-graduate (PG) courses in Geography and Philosophy were opened in 1995 and 1996 respectively. The new century began with the opening of the PG courses in other branches viz. Assamese, Economics, History, Mathematics, Political Science and Sociology under the Distance Education Scheme of Dibrugarh University. The other professional and self-financing courses are of recent origin.

The college offers two years Higher Secondary Courses in Arts, Science & Commerce stream under Assam Higher Secondary Educational Council (AHSEC), Guwahati and offers three years Degree Courses in Arts, Science & Commerce stream under Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh and also offers some Career Oriented Courses / Add On Course.

Vision:

• Center of Quality Higher Education and Excellence for Development of Human Resources

Mission:

• Nurture Knowledge, Skill and Attitude in Individuals through a Curriculum Responsive to the Socio-Economic and Cultural Realities

Goal and Objectives:

Objectives which would provide a link between defined mission and the functional strategies are as follows:

• To provide need-based quality curriculum
• To ensure effective execution of teaching plan
• To open up job oriented courses commensurate with socio-economic needs
• To foster internal resource generation and its mobilization
• To ensure sustainable benefit to learners for all round development
• To foster computerization in the basic operational activities
• To foster value education to upgrade learners‘ skill and attitude
• To formulate adequate action plan to enable learners to equip themselves with the competitive national and global environment
• To provide sustainable scope of physical and mental development towards the students and employee communities
• To ensure adequate infrastructure and support system of quality education, to create awareness on human rights, value system, culture, heritage, scientific temper and environment