Government Arts College, Salem, is an autonomous

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

, India.

History

Anglo-Vernacular School (1857-79)

The college was originally established as an Anglo-Vernacular School in 1857 by

Alexander John Arbuthnot Sir Alexander John Arbuthnot (11 October 1822 – 10 June 1907) was a British official and writer. Early life He was born at Farmhill, County Mayo, the third son of Alexander Arbuthnot and his second wife Margaret Phoebe Bingham, daughter ...

and converted into District School (Zillah High School) with 195 students. The school functioned in a rented building till 1863, then it moved to its own building, constructed in collaboration with public subscription and Government grant. In 1864 the school sent its first batch of students to the Matriculation Examination conducted by the University of Madras.

Affiliate College (1879-85)

In March 1879, the school was upgraded to a second grade college affiliated to the University of Madras. Seven students from the college attended First Arts Examination held in 1880-81.

Salem Municipal College (1885-1960)

In October 1885, the college was undertaken by Salem Municipal Council and was named as Salem Municipal College. In 1928, the college was shifted to the present location after purchasing 11 acres of land near Maravaneri. On 29 June 1931,

P. T. Rajan Sir Ponnambala Thiaga Rajan (22 April 1892 – 25 September 1974) was the Chief Minister of Madras Presidency from 4 April 1936, to 24 August 1936 (143 Days). He was also the last President of the Justice Party. P. T. Rajan was born in a Thondai ...

, then minister in the B. Munuswamy Naidu ministry of the erstwhile

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...

, laid the foundation stone for the clock tower block (near the north end of the campus). The block was built at the cost of ₹.1,50,000, and was opened on 24 November 1932 by

Radhabai Subbarayan Kailash Radhabai Subbarayan, ''nee'' Kudmul (22 April 1891 - 1960) was an Indian politician, women's rights activist and social reformer. She was the wife of Indian politician P. Subbarayan and mother of Mohan Kumaramangalam, P. P. Kumaramangal ...

, the Zamindarini of Kumaramangalam. In 1944, the college was upgraded to a first grade college. During his tenure as Salem Municipal Chairman (1941–47), P. Rathinaswami Pillai constructed a second building in the campus with subscriptions and donations received from the public and other institutions.. Consequently, the student strength increased from 408 to 1008. Students of the 1950-51 batch established a bust in memory of A.Ramasamy, the sixth principal of the college (during 1923-50). It was unveiled on 16 September 1951 by S.G. Manavala Ramanujam, then Vice Chancellor of

Annamalai University , logo = CampusmapofAU.jpg , image = Annamalai University logo.png , image_size = 225px , motto = "With Courage and Faith" , established = , type ...

Government Arts College (1960-present)

The Government of Madras (now Tamil Nadu) took over the college from 1 April 1960 onwards. In 1976, a two-storey building was built in the campus at the cost of ₹.9,11,000 for the departments of Geography Physics and Zoology. From 1983, non-semester system was followed. From 1998-99, the college became a co-educational institution. The present semester pattern was introduced from 1999-2000. In 2000, the college received a three-star rating from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). In 2006, the NAAC re-evaluated the college and rated it 'B ++'. The college gained autonomous status in 2007. Since then, the old method of examination was replaced by an alternative system with internal marks in semester system. In accordance with the order of the State government, shift system was introduced in the year 2007-08 and the second shift classes started functioning in departments like Maths, Computer Science, Tamil, English, Commerce, History and Co-Operation. In 2018, the NAAC re-accredited the college with 'B' status. In 2019, the University Grants Commission (UGC) extended the college's autonomous status till 2023-24.

List of Principals

Key

* Died in Office

Academic programmes

The college offers undergraduates and postgraduate programmes in arts and science streams. It has been accredited by NAAC and operates autonomously under the

Periyar University Periyar University is a university in Salem, Tamil Nadu, India. It was established by the Government of Tamil Nadu in 1997. It is named after social reformer Thanthai Periyar E. V. Ramasamy. The University Grants Commissions, New Delhi bestow ...

Departments

Notable faculty

* G. Devaneya Pavanar (1902-1981): Professor of Tamil during 1944-1956

Notable alumni

* Perunchithiranar (1933-1995):

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

poet and

Tamil nationalist Tamil nationalism is the ideology which asserts that the Tamil people constitute a nation and promotes the cultural unity of Tamil people. Tamil nationalism is primarily a secular nationalism, that focus on language and homeland. It expresses ...

; B.A. Tamil *

Kolathur Mani Kolathur may refer to: *Kolathur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India * Kolathur, Salem, Tamil Nadu, India *Kolathur, Tiruvannamalai Kolathur is a village located in Kilpennathur Tehsil of Tiruvannamalai district in Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , ...

(b. 1948): President of Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam (DVK) ; Pre-university course (1964-65) *

P. Dhanapal P. Dhanapal (born 16 May 1951) is an Indian politician and incumbent Member of the Legislative Assembly (India), Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu. He is a former Speaker (politics), Speaker of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. P. ...

(b.1951): Former Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly ; B.A. History * Brammarajan (b.1953): Tamil poet, translator, essayist, critic and editor ; B.A. English * M. Thiravidamani (b.1960): Member of

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has a strength of 234 members of whom are democratically elected using the First-past-the-post voting, First-past-the-post system. The pres ...

from Gudalur (2011-21) ; M.A. History *

Saravanan Saravanan is a Tamil male given name. Due to the Tamil tradition of using patronymic surnames, it may also be a surname for males and females. It is one of the names of the Hindu god Murugan. It may refer to: *Saravanan (actor) *M. Saravanan ( ...

(b.1966):

Tamil actor This list outlines the names of popular lead film actors, who previously worked or are currently working in the Tamil film industry ("Kollywood"), based in Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996) ...

; B.A. Tamil. *

Taj Noor Taj Noor is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer, who has predominantly scored music for Tamil films. Career Taj Noor was born in town of Salem, Tamil Nadu to a district collector Usman Ali Khan and his wife Habibonisha and has two elde ...

: film score composer; B.A. Physics

In popular culture

The college is one of the settings in the Tamil film ''

Maamannan ''Maamannan'' () is an upcoming Indian Tamil-language political thriller film written and directed by Mari Selvaraj and produced by Udhayanidhi Stalin. The film stars Udhayanidhi Stalin, Fahadh Faasil, Keerthy Suresh, and Vadivelu. Principal p ...

'' (2023).

References

External links

*{{cite web, url=http://gacsalem7.co.in/, title=Government Arts College Salem, website=, accessdate=2017-09-25 Educational institutions established in 1857 1857 establishments in India Colleges affiliated to Periyar University Education in Salem, Tamil Nadu Academic institutions formerly affiliated with the University of Madras