Government Arts College, Salem Explained

Government Arts College, Salem-7
Mottoeng:Knowledge, Power, Sweetness
Type:Public
Coordinates:11.6636°N 78.1583°W
Established:1857
Principal:N. Shenbagalakshmi
Academic Staff:234
Students:5,580
Campus:Urban
Language:Tamil, English
Website:http://gacsalem7.co.in/

Government Arts College, Salem, is an autonomous college in Salem, Tamil Nadu, India.[1]

History

Anglo-Vernacular School (1857-79)

The college was originally established as an Anglo-Vernacular School in 1857 by Alexander John Arbuthnot and converted into District School (Zillah High School) with 195 students. The school functioned in a rented building till 1863, then it moved to its own building, constructed in collaboration with public subscription and Government grant. In 1864 the school sent its first batch of students to the Matriculation Examination conducted by the University of Madras.[2]

Affiliate College (1879-85)

In March 1879, the school was upgraded to a second grade college affiliated to the University of Madras.[3] Seven students from the college attended First Arts Examination held in 1880-81.

Salem Municipal College (1885-1960)

In October 1885, the college was undertaken by Salem Municipal Council and was named as Salem Municipal College.

In 1928, the college was shifted to the present location after purchasing 11 acres of land near Maravaneri.

On 29 June 1931, P. T. Rajan, then Minister for Development, Public Works and Registration in the B. Munuswamy Naidu ministry of the erstwhile Madras Presidency, laid the foundation stone for the clock tower block (near the north end of the campus). The block was built at the cost of ₹.1,50,000, and was opened on 24 November 1932 by Radhabai Subbarayan, the Zamindarini of Kumaramangalam.

In 1944, the college was upgraded to a first grade college.

During his tenure as Salem Municipal Chairman (1941–47), P. Rathinaswami Pillai constructed a second building in the campus with subscriptions and donations received from the public and other institutions.. Consequently, the student strength increased from 408 to 1008.

Students of the 1950-51 batch established a bust in memory of A.Ramasamy, the sixth principal of the college (during 1923-50). It was unveiled on 16 September 1951 by S.G. Manavala Ramanujam, then Vice Chancellor of Annamalai University.

Government Arts College (1960-present)

The Government of Madras (now Tamil Nadu) took over the college from 1 April 1960 onwards.

In 1976, a two-storey building was built in the campus at the cost of ₹.9,11,000 for the departments of Geography Physics and Zoology.

From 1983, non-semester system was followed.

From 1998-99, the college became a co-educational institution.

The present semester pattern was introduced from 1999-2000.

In 2000, the college received a three-star rating from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).

In 2006, the NAAC re-evaluated the college and rated it 'B ++'.

The college gained autonomous status in 2007. Since then, the old method of examination was replaced by an alternative system with internal marks in semester system.

In accordance with the order of the State government, shift system was introduced in the year 2007-08 and the second shift classes started functioning in departments like Maths, Computer Science, Tamil, English, Commerce, History and Co-Operation.

In 2018, the NAAC re-accredited the college with 'B' status.

In 2019, the University Grants Commission (UGC) extended the college's autonomous status till 2023-24.

List of Principals

Key

No.! rowspan="2"
Name[4] Term of office
FromTo
1BoertUnknown1904
2Spencer19041914
3Seshathiri19141918
4S.K. Yagna Narayanan19181922
5S.K. Narayanan19221927
6A. Ramasamy192719 August 1950 [5]
7?20 August 19501955
8 V.Achuthan Nair1955 1964
9K.S. Venkateswaran19641965
10Mir Saheer Hussain19661967
11Ramanan Unni19671969
12K. Meenakshi Sundaram19691971
13V. Kannaiyah19721973
14P.T. Muniappa19731977
15M.K. Thangavelu19771978
16R. Ayyasamy197816 July 1979
17K. Perumal16 July 197931 May 1980
18R. Narasingam31 May 198012 October 1981
19A. Nagarajan12 October 198128 January 1982
20?28 January 19825 November 1982
21N. Kailasam5 November 198230 April 1984
22?30 April 198431 May 1984
23M.S. Srinivasan1 June 198416 June 1984
24?16 June 19849 July 1984
25S.M. Kamal Basha9 July 198431 May 1987
26?1 June 198710 June 1987
27G.S. Narasiman11 June 19878 June 1988
28?8 June 198813 June 1988
29K. Jayaraman14 June 198820 June 1989
30M. Ganapathy21 June 198910 November 1992
31?11 November 199215 December 1992
32T.C. Shanmugasundaram16 December 19925 July 1993
33?6 July 199315 July 1993
34Thanga Rayer16 July 199330 November 1994
35?1 December 199430 December 1994
36V. Santhanam31 December 19942 August 1995
37A. Kumararaj3 August 199531 May 1996
38?1 June 19964 July 1996
39S. Natarajan5 July 199631 May 1997
40N.M. Viswanathan31 May 199731 May 1998
41?1 June 19987 June 1998
42P. Thangavel8 June 19988 July 1999
43P. Thanigasalam9 July 199931 August 2000
44P. Thiyagarajan 1 September 20003 February 2001
45P. Syamalabai4 February 200120 June 2001
46M. Balakrishnan21 June 200126 January 2003
47?27 January 20031 May 2003
48D. Pathmini2 May 20033 May 2003
49?4 May 200327 July 2003
50L. Lakshmanan28 July 20033 September 2004
51?4 September 200414 December 2004
52A. Jayalakshmi15 December 20045 July 2005
53C. Murugesan6 July 2005 31 May 2006
54?1 June 200613 June 2006
55M.N. Chandrasekaran14 June 200631 May 2007
56?1 June 10076 June 200i7
57R. Periyasamy7 June 200731 May 2008
58?1 June 200812 June 2008
59K. Mohammed Rashak13 June 200831 May 2009
60?1 June 200914 June 2009
61S. Seetharaman15 June 200931 May 2011
62P. Thirumoorthy1 June 20113 June 2011
63?4 June 20116 June 2011
64P. Ganesan7 June 201117 June 2011
65?18 June 201122 June 2011
66S.V. Govindaraju23 June 201125 July 2011
67R. Rangarajan26 July 20111 August 2011
(66)S.V. Govindaraju2 August 201123 December 2011
68?24 December 201125 December 2011
(67)R. Rangarajan26 December 201130 December 2011
69?30 December 201131 December 2011
(66)S.V. Govindaraju1 January 201217 February 2012
70?18 February 201219 February 2012
71K.R. Ravindran20 February 201229 February 2012
72?1 March 201222 August 2012
73A.R. Rasamani23 August 201231 May 2014
74S.C. Suriyanarayanan1 June 20141 July 2014
75R. Dhanalakshmi2 July 201431 May 2016
76K. Murugeswari1 June 201612 October 2016
77T. Subramani13 October 201627 October 2016
78P. Esther Joice28 October 20161 August 2017
79G. Venkatesan2 August 201728 August 2017
80M. Sakunthala28 August 201730 June 2018
81?1 July 20183 July 2018
82S. Kalaichelvan4 July 20188 June 2023
83N. Shenbagalakshmi9 June 2023Incumbent

Academic programmes

The college offers undergraduates and postgraduate programmes in arts and science streams. It has been accredited by NAAC and operates autonomously under the Periyar University.[6]

Departments

!Subject!Undergraduate!Postgraduate!Research
Arts and Commerce
Tamil
English
History
Political Science (shift 1)
Human Rights
Public Administration (shift 1)
Economics (shift 1)
Business Administration
Commerce
Commerce (Co-Operation)
Science
Physics (shift 1)
Chemistry
Mathematics
Statistics (shift 1)
Geology (shift 1)
Geography (shift 1)
Botany (shift 1)
Zoology (shift 1)
Computer Science
Chartered Accountant

Notable faculty

Notable alumni

In popular culture

The college is one of the settings in the Tamil film Maamannan (2023).

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: GOVERNMENT ARTS COLLEGE (AUTONOMOUS), SALEM - 7 | Outlook Education.
  2. Web site: College History – Government Arts College Salem-7. 2021-12-05. en-US.
  3. Web site: Government Arts College Salem-7 – Government Arts College (Autonomous), Salem.
  4. Web site: List of Principals – Government Arts College Salem-7. 2021-12-06. en-US.
  5. Web site: -:: Annavin Padaippugal ::-. 2021-12-05. www.annavinpadaippugal.info.
  6. Web site: Affiliated College of Periyar University . 21 September 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170920155435/http://www.msuniv.ac.in/affilated-colleges.aspx . 20 September 2017 . dead .
  7. Web site: 2016-04-25 . Tamil Movie Actor Saravanan Nettv4u . 2022-11-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160425035308/http://www.nettv4u.com/celebrity/tamil/movie-actor/saravanan . 25 April 2016 .