It is rather easy to imagine someone’s journey from rags to riches than the elevation of a cleaner to the rank of a college principal. But, with her hard labour, perseverance and iron strong determination Nirjharini Chakraborty, the unassuming principal of Rishi
Bankim Chandra Women’s College, Naihati, has once again proved the old saying ‘truth is stranger than fiction’. Her journey from darkness to limelight has all the elements of a saga. Who would have thought that a girl, fifteen years old, who took the job of sweeping a school building to pursue her studies would one day become a
symbol of woman empowerment. Dr. Nirjharini Chakroborty, playing the dual role of a principal and an MLA, stands undaunted all through. Following the retirement of her
father, a railway clerk, hard times befell their large family. His meagre pension was not enough to make the both ends meet. Nirjharini was still at school. Her teachers at Kanchrapara Polytechnique Girls’School came to her rescue. The school authority
waived her fee, and the teachers provided her with the books. Braving all odds, she passed school final in 1968. But she was too much of a self respecting woman to depend on other people’s mercy for long. She took a bold decision even at the tender age of fifteen. She took up the job of cleaning the very school building she had passed out from. Actually her teachers had secured  the temporary job for her so that, she
could pursue her studies. At that time her monthly salary was Rs 60/-. She
held on to this job till 1970.