Presidency College will have autonomy within a month, the state higher education minister, Sudarshan Roychowdhury, said on Sunday, in what could be the end to a long wrangle over the granting of autonomy to the premier educational institution.

“Everything regarding the granting of autonomy to Presidency College will be sorted out in a month,” said the minister, while attending a function marking the centennial celebrations of David Hare Training College.

The chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, also present at the ceremony, set the tone on the autonomy issue in the Sunday morning event.

“This issue has been on our agenda for some time. We are working towards it and will be taking immediate steps,” said Bhattacharjee.

The education minister, however, didn’t elaborate on the autonomy roadmap for the prestigious college.

St Xavier’s College was the first college in the city, and also in the state, to get an autonomous status. Ramakrishna Mission, Narendrapur, followed it.

Emphasising his intention of keeping centres of educational excellence free from politics, the chief minister had stated last year that Presidency College would become autonomous by July 2006.

The deadline was extended under pressure from the CPM-dominated West Bengal College and University Teachers’ Association and the Government College Teachers’ Association.

The teachers’ bodies feared Presidency College would become an example for other government colleges, which would also press for autonomy. Presidency College should instead be turned into a university, to which all 17 state-run colleges would be affiliated, they suggested.

A college needs permission from the state and its affiliating university to seek autonomy from the University Grants Commission.

For colleges seeking autonomy under the 11th Plan period, the last date of submitting application forms was April 30. An experts’ panel is now trying to submit its report to the government by this month. The report is expected to clear the path towards autonomy.