Barasat Government College owes its birth to a historical disaster – the partition of Bengal and the consequent deluge of displaced people into a border state. A substantial section of the uprooted belonged to a class which depended on formal education for its very subsistence and the government of the state selected the town of Barasat as the location of a new college. Three isolated two-story building in the grounds of Barasat Government School, used to provide hostel facilities to both Hindu and Muslim boys, were requisitioned to the purpose. The ground floors of the buildings were used as class rooms, while accommodation was found for the college office, the principal's room, the teachers' room and the library on the second floors of the three scattered buildings.
The college was affiliated to the University of Calcutta; the only course offered was the Intermediate (Arts); to begin with, there were less than thirty students. Later, the equivalent Higher Secondary course (in both the Arts and Science streams) were taught till 1998-1999. The college library started with 50 books.
In 1956, citizens of the locality formed the “Govt. College Upgradation Committee for Degree College” to work for the upgradation of the institution to Degree College, and succedeed in establishing an Arts section from 1956-57. Space for a science section could not be immediately found, but the Intermediate course in biology was started from 57-58, practical classes in 1st floor of one of the buildings.