Mahatma Gandhi College is a college in

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the largest and ...

, India. It was founded by

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 N ...

, 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

University of Kerala University of Kerala (formerly known as University of Travancore) is a state-run public university in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital of Kerala, India. It was established in 1937 by a promulgation of the Maharajah of Travancore, Chithi ...

and is managed by Nair Service Society. It was awarded "College with potential for excellence" certificate by

NAAC NAAC may refer to: *National Assessment and Accreditation Council, an organization that assesses and accredits institutions of higher education in India. * North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial, near Carthage, Tunisia. *North American Anglican ...

. As per the 2019

NIRF 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 Ministry o ...

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 ...

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 Indian independence ...

, the last

Governor General of India The governor-general of India (1833 to 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 in their capacity as the emperor o ...

, 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 Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a prin ...

, the first

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Union Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers, despite the president of ...

, 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

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 secreta ...

, General Secretary of the Nair Service Society (NSS) on 23 April 1989 and the block upon completion was inaugurated by 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, and holds office at the President's pleasure. The governor is ''de jure'' head of the govern ...

, on 02 October 1990.

Overview

The college has 2,000 students, 13 degree and 10 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 scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, 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 whi ...

Programs of study

Notable alumni

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (; born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor and filmmaker who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeared in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Hin ...

Madhu Madhu (Sanskrit: ) is a word used in several Indo-Aryan languages meaning ''honey'' or ''sweet''. It is ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European language, Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/médʰu, ''*médʰu'', whenc ...

Murali Murali may refer to: People Mononyms *Murali (Malayalam actor) (1954–2009), name of Malayalam film actor Muraleedharan Pillai, who appeared in ''Neythukaran'' and ''Aadhaaram'' *Murali (Tamil actor) (1964–2010), Tamil actor who appeared ...

Padmarajan Padmarajan Padmanabhan Pillai, better known as 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 ...

Adoor Bhasi K. Bhaskaran Nair (1 March 1929 – 29 March 1990), professionally credited by his stage name Adoor Bhasi, was an Indian actor and film director. He was mostly cast as a sidekick to protagonists, particularly Prem Nazir. His comedic roles were w ...

Priyadarshan Priyadarshan Soman Nair (born 30 January 1957) is an Indian film director and screenwriter. He has worked primarily in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam and Hindi cinema, Hindi cinema since 1982, directing over 90 films in multiple Indian languages, ...

* Anil Nedumangad *

Sooraj Santhosh Sooraj Santhosh (born September 19, 1987) is an Indian singer, songwriter, and composer. He straddles the worlds of independent music and playback singing, moving smoothly between the two. Santhosh is the recipient of a Kerala State Film Award ...

* M Vijayakumar * KN Balagopal *

Thennala Balakrishna Pillai Thennala Balakrishna Pillai (11 March 1930 – 6 June 2025) was an Indian politician representing the Indian National Congress and was a Member of the Parliament representing Kerala in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament. ...

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 main ...

* Baiju *

Manikuttan Thomas James, (born 2 March 1986) better known by his stage name Manikuttan, is an Indian actor who works primarily in Malayalam films. He is known for his role as Kayamkulam Kochunni in the 2004 television serial of the same title. He was al ...

Saji Surendran Saji Surendran (born 19 July 1977) is an Indian film director working in the Malayalam cinema, Malayalam film industry, known for films such as ''Ivar Vivahitharayal'' (2009) and ''Happy Husbands (2010 film), Happy Husbands'' (2010). Persona ...

Arun Kumar Aravind Arun Kumar Aravind is an Indian film director, Film editing, editor and Film producer, producer who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema. Biography Arun Kumar Aravind, was better known as the editor of director Priyadarshan, owns to his c ...

* Santhosh * V. Madhusoodanan Nair *

Jobby Justin Jobby Justin (born 10 November 1993) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Diamond Harbour in the I-League 2. Career Justin grew up playing football on the beaches of Vettucaud but did not take the game seriously un ...

*Justice Paripoornan *

Kavalam Sreekumar Kavalam Srikumar 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 200 famous Malayalam poems. He is the son of the noted Malayalam po ...

* G. R. Anil *

Kochu Preman Kalaramathil Shivaraman Premkumar (1 June 1955 – 3 December 2022), better known by his stage name Kochu Preman, was an Indian actor who worked in Malayalam film industry. He acted in more than 250 films, mainly in supporting and comedy role ...

Controversies

In April 2013, the principal of Mahatma Gandhi College objected to the

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) is a student organization in India, registered as a Non-governmental organization (NGO) in 1949. It's a significant student union with over 5 million members, making it one of the largest student or ...

(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 The Students' Federation of India (SFI) is a left-wing student organization in India that upholds ideology of independence, democracy, and socialism. History The origin of Indian students movement in its organised form can be traced to th ...

(SFI) and the ABVP, campus politics is banned as of 2019 per a

Kerala High Court The High Court of Kerala is the List of high courts in India, highest court in the Indian state of Kerala and the Union territory of Lakshadweep. It is located in Kochi. Drawing its powers under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the Hig ...

order.

References

External links

{{coord, 8.5323, 76.9429, type:edu_region:IN-KL, display=title Arts and Science colleges in Kerala Colleges affiliated to the University of Kerala Colleges in Thiruvananthapuram Nair Service Society colleges 1948 establishments in India Educational institutions established in 1948