Sourashtra College

Madurai, the Temple city, has a sizable population of Sourashtra Community, who migrated from Gujarat, (Sourashtra) about 700 years ago. The migrants live in several other parts of India also but a majority of them have settled in Tamilnadu. The majority of the community members are engaged in weaving, a traditional job and textile business. Even now many people earn their livelihood only by weaving. The ancestors and many other members of the community actively participated in the freedom struggle in the country and have sacrificed their lives and belongings. One notable personality in this regard is Thiru. N.M.R.Subburaman. He was closely associated with Mahathma Gandhiji, the Father of our Nation. He actively participated in the freedom struggle movement and he has been honoured by the then freedom fighters as Madurai Gandhi. This linguistic minority people in those days experienced hardship in securing admission in Colleges. It was, therefore, felt necessary that a college of their own community should be started in Madurai. At that time there were only three Women?s and three Men?s Colleges in Madurai. The philanthropists of Sourashtra Community took efforts in forming an Association, viz. Sourashtra College Council, and through donations from the philanthropists they collected money to form a corpus fund to enable it to start a College. With the approval of the Government of Tamil Nadu and the then Madurai University, now called Madurai Kamaraj University, the Sourashtra College was inaugurated in 1967 with Pre-University Courses in the first instance. Since there was no permanent building in the beginning, the college was temporarily housed in one of the premises of the Sourashtra High School on Kamarajar Road, Madurai. The College is managed by the Sourashtra College Council consisting of about 8644 members and a Managing Committee of 8 members. The College was aided by the Government of Tamil Nadu and recognized as one of the Linguistic Minority Institutions. Only after a period of 5 years, the College succeeded in introducing degree courses. To have a permanent building, the Sourashtra College Council approached the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Government Dr. C.N.ANNADURAI with a request to allocate suitable land for construction of the required buildings for the College. In compliance with our representation the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Dr. M. Karunanidhi was kind enough to order the liberal donation of an extent of 28.12 acres of land on the slope of the Pasumalai Hills, opposite to the Abode of Lord Muruga at Tirupparankundram, on the Madurai ? Vilachery Road. With the munificent donations from the elite people of the community and others, a sizable amount was raised and the buildings were constructed to house this college. In 1972, the College which was temporarily functioning in the Sourashtra High School complex, Kamarajar Road, Madurai-9 was subsequently shifted to the new campus on Madurai ? Vilachery Road. The new buildings of the Sourashtra College at Pasumalai Hills were declared open by the then Governor of Tamil Nadu, His Excellency Shri K.K.Shah under the Presidentship of the former Vice Chancellor of the Madurai Kamaraj University Dr. M.Varadarajan on 23.03.1973. Gradually, the college management was successful in introducing degree courses. The College has now completed 43 years of useful service to the cause of higher education. It is now acclaimed as one of the premier educational institutions not only in Madurai but also in Tamil Nadu. In 1984 the College was permitted to admit women students. The Silver Jubilee was celebrated in the presence of the former Union Minister and former Governor of Maharashtra Thiru.C.Subramanian and Former Vice-Chancellor of Madurai University, Dr. M.D.K. Kuthalingam, Thiru. A.G.S. Rambabu, Ex.M.P. and the then Worshipful Mayor Thiru. P.Kulandaivelu, Madurai Corporation. The College has a very good track record in the academic area. Now it is a recognized Research Centre for Commerce from 2005. The College also offers M.Phil., programmes in Commerce and English. At present it offers seventeen UG Degree Courses and ten PG Degree Courses along with the Certificate and Diploma courses. The College has been awarded the Linguistic Minority status by the Government of Tamilnadu. A majority of the students hail from weaving families and economically down trodden section. Nearly 90% of the students receive First Graduate Scholarship. 22 Faculty members are Doctorates and 83 hold M.Phil., Degrees. To fall in line with the policy of the Government and to meet the ever increasing demand for admission to various regular courses and job-oriented courses, self finance courses were also introduced from the year 1993-94. The college was accredited with B++ grade by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) during 2006. To cope with the modern trend the management introduced Autonomous System from the year 2011-12. From the year 2011-12 it is functioning as an Autonomous College.