According to the reports, at least 50 colleges in West Bengal have updated their admission forms. In the new forms under the religion sections students have been given options such as 'humanity'', ''agnostic'', ''secular'' and ''non-religious'' apart from the traditional options. This will help the students who want to keep their religion private or do not believe in any religion at all.
An official from the state’s century-old Bethune College said that this will allow the students applying for the undergraduate courses to keep their religious faith private.
"We found that many applicants had been identifying themselves as a non-believer in the option where they were supposed to mention their religion," said an official involved in the admission process at the college. Following this, the college authorities decided to consider and provide ''humanity'' as a choice to students while filling the forms, firstly, for the online applications," the official said.
Some other colleges in the city such as Scottish Church college have also added options such as 'agnostic'', ''secular'' and ''non-religious'' as an option under the religion column.
Maulana Azad College, Rammohan College, Bangabasi Morning in the city, Maharaja Srischandra College in Andul in Howrah district and Midnapore College in Midnapore town are among the college which have adopted humanity as an option.
Welcoming the move, Sagarika Sen, an aspirant of English honors course from Bethune College said, "This is an extremely progressive step. I consider this as an expression of historical importance. Though I am a Hindu by birth, I have never liked the idea of disclosing my religious identity."
Another student, Sammay Sengupta, applauding the efforts of the state and colleges said “This is a path-breaking initiative. We are followers or believers of religion but that cannot be our identity. Our identity is humanism. And we must not forget that religion is one's own choice”.