Mahatma Gandhi University
Spread over an area that covers Kottayam, Ernakulam, Idukki and some parts of Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta districts; Mahatma Gandhi University is one of the largest universities in Kerala that has numerous colleges affiliated with it. This prestigious institute was established on 2nd October 1983, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi by the Government of Kerala through an Act of Legislative Assembly. The university was formally inaugurated by Sri. Gyani Zail Singh the H.E, President of India on 26th October.
. Funded by the University Grants Commission and Government of Kerala, the Mahatma Gandhi University is a member of the Association of Indian Universities and the Association of Commonwealth Universities. Another important thing about this university is that it is the largest of seven universities in Kerala and has been playing a major role in educating and spreading higher education in Kottayam, first town of the state that has total literacy rate all over India.
Currently, the MG University has 25 teaching and research departments, 11 University Colleges of Teaching Education, 26 regional centers, 3 study centers, 5 information centers and 49 Off Campus Academic Centers. There are 183 colleges affiliated with the University. The MG University Library is the first one in not only Kerala but also the country to be fully automated and stipulated by U.G.C and to set up an online information retrieval facility.
The university campus is located at an ideal location at Priyadarsini Hills that is 13 km away from Kottayam Railway Station and 4 km away from Ettumannoo. The best routes to reach the university campus are the deviation from Ettumannor or Gandhi Nagar (from M. C. Road), while the nearest airport is at Cochin (Nedumbassery) about 80 km away.
Some of the important departments or schools of university are:
- School of International Relations and Politics.
- School of Management and Business Studies.
- School of Chemical Sciences.
- School of Medical Education.
- School of Gandhian Thought and Development Studies.
- School of Biosciences.
On the other hand, this university also offers several academic programs in various fields that are:
- Gandhian Thought.
- Polymer Chemistry.
- Hospital administration.
- Environmental Management among others.
Currently Prof. (Dr.) Jancy James is the Vice Chancellor and Prof. K K Unuskutty is the Pro Vice Chancellor of the university.
The main objective of this university is promotion and development of Hindi language and literature. For this purpose, students are provided instructional as well as research facilities in relevant fields of leaning. At MG University, the students are aided in active pursuit of their comparative studies and research in all important languages to help them develop and discriminate important information in the country as well as aboard.
The administration of Mahatma Gandhi University is trying to impart the Gandhian vision of education and striving to educate people who are going to be leaders in various fields, to help them mark their cultural identity and make them qualified participants of the global network. The university aims to incorporate Gandhi’s doctrines and principles into studies so that the students not only excel in their jobs but also in their lives as good human beings. Important values of understanding, transparency, social equality and humility, philosophy of action with conviction and insistence on the elemental good are some of the major Gandhian teachings that are bring incorporated in the modern young Indian conscience here.
