The Gandhigram Rural Institute (GRI) is a centrally-funded

deemed university In India, a deemed university or deemed-to-be-university is an accreditation granted to higher educational institutions by the Ministry of Education. According to the ministry's definition, the accreditation indicates, "an Institution of higher ...

Dindigul Dindigul (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is a city in the India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of the Dindigul district. Dindigul City is Located in the Southwest Region of Tamil Nadu. Dindigul is an ancient settlement r ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. 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 Indi ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

History

GRI was founded by G. Ramachandran and his wife T.S. Soundaram, in 1956. It adopted the education model of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

Nai Talim Nai Talim, or Basic Education, is a principle which states that knowledge and work are not separate. Mahatma Gandhi promoted an educational curriculum with the same name based on this pedagogical principle. It can be translated with the phras ...

. In 1976, it was declared a

Deemed University In India, a deemed university or deemed-to-be-university is an accreditation granted to higher educational institutions by the Ministry of Education. According to the ministry's definition, the accreditation indicates, "an Institution of higher ...

by the University Grants Commission (UGC) under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956. It is fully funded by the UGC. In 2006, it was renamed Gandhigram Rural Institute as per the guidelines of UGC. The institute has developed into a major educational complex, comprising seven faculties, offering more than 50 programmes. It awards

doctoral A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

and

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

s, diplomas, and certificates through its seven academic faculties: rural development, rural economics and extension education, rural-oriented sciences, cooperation, development administration, rural sociology, and English, Tamil and Indian languages. It has 3000 students, 150 teaching and 250 non-teaching staff. The institute was accredited with a five-star status by the

National Assessment and Accreditation Council The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) is a public autonomous body of the government of India that assesses and accredits higher education institutions (HEIs) in India. It is funded by the University Grants Commission and hea ...

(NAAC) in 2002, and with an A grade during re-accreditation in 2010 and 2016.

Campus

The Gandhigram Rural Institute has a campus of nearly in a rural setting, nestling in one of the enclaves of the Sirumalai range. To its west are chains of mountains including the Kodaikanal Hill Station. Lying north of Madurai, Gandhigram is easily accessible by rail and road. The climate is hot throughout the year.

Alumni

* K. R. Meera, Indian Writer *

Raghavan (actor) Raghavan (born 12 December 1941) is an Indian actor who has acted in predominately Malayalam films. From early 2000s he is more active in television serials. He made his Direction debut in '' Kilippaattu'' (1987) which was selected for Indian ...

, Malayalam film industry *

Adoor Gopalakrishnan Adoor Gopalakrishnan (born 3 July 1941) is an Indian film director, script writer, and producer and is regarded as one of the most notable and renowned filmmakers in India. With the release of his first feature film '' Swayamvaram'' (1972), G ...

, Prominent director * Pocker Kadalundi, Journalist

Transport

The nearest railway station is Ambathurai, the nearest major railway junction is

and the nearest major city is

Madurai Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is ...

. The nearest airport is

Madurai Airport Madurai Airport is a customs airport serving Madurai and its adjoining districts in Tamil Nadu, India. It is the 40th-busiest airport in India, both in terms of passengers handled and aircraft movement. The airport is located near State Highw ...

Rankings

Gandhigram Rural Institute was ranked 91 among universities in India by the

National Institutional Ranking Framework National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) is a ranking methodology released annually by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, to rank institutions of higher education in India. The framework was approved by the former Ministr ...

(NIRF) in 2020, rank 101–150 in 2021 and rank 151-200 in 2022.

Former chancellors

P. B. Gajendragadkar Pralhad Balacharya Gajendragadkar (16 March 1901 – 12 June 1981) was the 7th Chief Justice of India, serving from February 1964 to March 1966. Early life and career Prahlad Balacharya Gajendragadkar was born into Deshastha Madhva Brah ...

, seventh Chief Justice of India * T. S. Soundram, Indian physician and politician * R. Venkatraman, eighth President of India *

Shankar Dayal Sharma Shankar Dayal Sharma (; 19 August 1918 – 26 December 1999) was an Indian lawyer and politician who served as the President of India from 1992 to 1997. Born in Bhopal, Sharma studied at Agra, Allahabad and Lucknow and received a doctorate i ...

, eighth Vice President of India * K.R. Narayanan, tenth President of India *

Krishan Kant Krishan Kant (28 February 1927 – 27 July 2002) was an Indian politician who served as the vice president of India from 1997 until his death in 2002. Prior to his vice presidency, Kant was the governor of Andhra Pradesh from 1990 to 1997. He ...

, tenth Vice President of India *

Bhairon Singh Shekhawat Bhairon Singh Shekhawat (23 October 1923 – 15 May 2010) was an Indian politician who served as the vice president of India. He served in that position from August 2002, when he was elected to a five-year term by the electoral college fol ...

, eleventh Vice President of India *

Mohammad Hamid Ansari Mohammad Hamid Ansari (; born 1 April 1937) is an Indian bureaucrat and retired Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer who was the vice president of India from 2007 to 2017. Ansari joined the IFS in 1961. In a diplomatic career spanning 38 year ...

, twelfth Vice President of India *

Renana Jhabvala Renana Jhabvala is an Indian social worker based in Ahmedabad, India, who has been active for decades in organising women into organisations and trade unions in India, and has been extensively involved in policy issues relating to poor women ...

, social worker in India

Former vice chancellors

* G. Ramachandran, social reformer * M. Aram, educator and peace activist * Devendra Kumar * D. K. Oza * T. R. Natesan * N. Markandan * G. Pankajam * T. Karunakaran * Sm. Ramasamy

References

External links

* {{Coord, 10.27958, 77.933412, display=title Gandhigram Rural Institute 1956 establishments in Madras State Education in Dindigul district Universities and colleges established in 1956