Mahatma Gandhi College is a college in

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

, India. It was founded by to

Mannathu Padmanabhan Mannathu Padmanabhan (2 January 1878 – 25 February 1970) was an Indian social reformer and freedom fighter from the south-western state of Kerala. He is recognised as the founder of the Nair Service Society (NSS), which represents the Na ...

, the founder of the

Nair Service Society The Nair Service Society (NSS) is an organisation created for the social advancement and welfare of the Nair community that is found primarily in the state of Kerala in Southern part of India. It was established under the leadership of Mannathu ...

. The college is affiliated to

Kerala University University of Kerala, formerly the University of Travancore, is a state-run public university located in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital of Kerala, India. It was established in 1937 by a promulgation of the Maharajah of Travancore, Chit ...

and is managed by Nair Service Society. The pioneer institution in Thiruvananthapuram having "College with potential for excellence" awarded by NAAC. As per the 2019

NIRF The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) is a methodology adopted by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, to rank institutions of higher education in India. The Framework was approved by the MHRD and launched by Minister ...

rankings, Mahatma Gandhi College stands at 68th rank in India and fourth rank in Thiruvananthapuram.

History

The college started functioning at Vadassery Amma Veedu at Perunthanni in 1948 and was later shifted to the present site at Kattachakkonam, now known as

Kesavadasapuram Kesavadasapuram is a major junction in Thiruvananthapuram city, Kerala, India. It is the meeting point of National Highway 66 and MC Road (State Highway 1). While coming from the city centre, at the junction, the MC road goes to the right towa ...

. Late

C. Rajagopalachari Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (10 December 1878 – 25 December 1972), popularly known as Rajaji or C.R., also known as Mootharignar Rajaji (Rajaji'', the Scholar Emeritus''), was an Indian statesman, writer, lawyer, and independence activis ...

, the last

Governor General of India The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 1 ...

, laid the foundation stone for the new building on 22 August 1948. The Arts section was shifted to the building in 1949, and the Science section in 1950. The main building was completed in 1958 and was inaugurated by

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

, the first

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the ...

, on 24 April 1958. The college celebrated its Silver Jubilee in 1974–75. The foundation stone of the three-storeyed Mannam Memorial Block was laid by Sri.

P. K. Narayana Panicker P. K. Narayana Panicker (15 August 1930 – 29 February 2012) was the President and General Secretary of the Nair Service Society (NSS), the social service organization established in 1914. He is the second-longest-serving general secretar ...

, General Secretary of the Nair Service Society (NSS) on 23 April 1989, and the block upon completionwas inaugurated by Dr. Swaroop Singh, the then

Governor of Kerala The governor of Kerala is the constitutional head of state of the southern Indian state of Kerala. The governor is appointed by the president of India for a term of five years and holds office at the president's pleasure. The governor is ''de j ...

, on 2 October, 1990. In April 2013, the principal of Mahatma Gandhi College objected to the

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) () is a right-wing all India student organisation affiliated to the Hindu nationalist organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). History The ABVP, founded in 1948 with the initiative of the RSS ...

(ABVP) college unit collecting money for an "evening farewell money". In a related event, the Kerala Women's Commission, after learning that student activists had detained a girl student for more than seven hours, launched its own inquiry. On 29 July 2013, starting at around 10:30 am, several students and outsiders, suspected to be ABVP activists and sympathizers, hurled crude explosives and damaged college property at Mahatma Gandhi College. Police swung batons to disperse the students and detained 10 of them (though some of those detained could have been innocent). Following the incident, a "Special Investigation Team" was set up to investigate the incident, and Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan visited the college to see the damage. Due to clashes between the Students' Federation of India (SFI) and the ABVP, campus politics is banned as of 2019 per a High Court order.

Overview

The college has 4,000 students, 13 degree and eight postgraduate courses. Besides providing research facilities in various disciplines, the college has started an Instrumentation course attached to the Department of

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

Programs of study

Notable alumni

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeare ...

Madhu Madhu (Sanskrit: ) is a word used in several Indo-Aryan languages meaning ''honey'' or ''sweet''. It is ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European ''*médʰu'', whence English '' mead''. Metaphorical use ''Madhu'' has been used for millennia si ...

* Murali *

Padmarajan P. Padmarajan (23 May 1945 – 23 January 1991) was an Indian film maker, screenwriter and author who was known for his works in Malayalam literature and Malayalam cinema. He was the founder of a new school of film making in Malayalam cinema, a ...

Adoor Bhasi K. Bhaskaran Nair (1 March 1929 – 29 March 1990), known by his stage name Adoor Bhasi, was an Indian actor and film director from Kerala. Adoor Bhasi was almost always cast as the man who stands next to the hero. His hilarious actions and role ...

Priyadarshan Priyadarshan (born 30 January 1957) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer who works predominantly in Malayalam and Hindi films, while also having done six films in Tamil and two films in Telugu. He has done about 31 films in Hi ...

Anil Nedumangad Anil Nedumangad (also known as P. Anil; 30 May 1972 – 25 December 2020) was an Indian actor who appeared in Malayalam films. Acting career He made his debut in '' Thaskaraveeran'' with an uncredited appearance. His breakthrough was in the ...

Sooraj Santhosh Sooraj Santhosh (born 19 September 1987) is an Indian playback singer who sings mainly in Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam languages and has also sung in Hindi, Kannada and Badaga. He has sung around 200 songs in 8 Indian languages. He was the former ...

* M Vijayakumar * KN Balagopal *

Thennala Balakrishna Pillai Thennala Balakrishna Pillai (born 11 March 1930) is an Indian politician representing the Indian National Congress and is a former Member of the Parliament representing Kerala in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament. He wa ...

Shaji Kailas Shaji Kailas (born 8 February 1965) is an Indian film director and screenwriter known for his works in Malayalam cinema. Shaji got a breakthrough with the comedy film ''Dr. Pasupathy'' (1990). He is best known for his action films with mainl ...

* Baiju *

Manikuttan Thomas James better known by his stage name Manikuttan or 'MK', is an Indian actor who prominently works in the Malayalam film industry. He is known for his role as Kayamkulam Kochunni in the famous TV serial of the same title broadcast by S ...

Saji Surendran Saji Surendran (born 19 July 1982) is an Indian film director working in the Malayalam film industry, known for films such as ''Ivar Vivahitharayal'' (2009) and '' Happy Husbands'' (2010). Personal life Saji Surendran was born to Surendran a ...

Arun Kumar Aravind Arun Kumar Aravind is an Indian film director, editor and producer who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema. Biography Arun Kumar Aravind, was better known as the editor of director Priyadarshan, owns to his credit a span of 10 years' ex ...

* Santhosh *

V. Madhusoodanan Nair V. Madhusoodanan Nair is an Indian poet and critic of Malayalam literature, who is credited with contributions in popularizing poetry through recitation. He is best known for ''Naranathu Bhranthan'', the poem with the most editions in Malayalam ...

Jobby Justin Jobby Justin (born 10 November 1993) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a forward for I-League club Gokulam Kerala. Career Justin grew up playing football on the beaches of Vettucaud but did not take the game seriously until ...

*Justice Paripoornan *

Kavalam Sreekumar Kavalam Sreekumar is a classical musician, Malayalam film singer and music composer from Kerala, India. His recitation of Ramayana is also famous. He has also rendered more than 60 famous Malayalam poems. He is the son of the noted Malayalam poet ...

* G. R. Anil * Dr. P. Padmesh

References

External links