The governor-government tussle over the appointment of vice-chancellors in universities has been at the fore in discussions for the past few days. This war has spread beyond the university to the administration. The reality is that in the rush to find justifications for this, many sights that need to be seen go unnoticed. Much that should be discussed is drowned in noise.
In the wake of the fear of Covid, the government has celebrated the birth of Kerala in a grand manner this time. There is no doubt that the birth of the Malayalam nation is worth celebrating. This will pave the way to increase love and closeness to the country, culture and language. But the celebration that forgets Malayalam will erase its meaning. The Malayalam University established in Tirur on 1st November 2012 with the aim of nurturing the Malayalam language, in Tirur, the land of the father of the language, Thunchath Ezhutchan, still does not have a headquarters building or its own campus. This is the view when the university, which should be the pride of Kerala, completes a decade.
The Malayalam University is functioning in a temporary headquarters built on a five-acre plot of Tirur Vakkad Tunchan Memorial Government College. Former Chief Secretary K. Jayakumar was the first Vice Chancellor. After his retirement, Dr. Anil Vallathol is working as the Vice Chancellor.
and place and fund
Despite having
The government has acquired 12 acres of land owned by private individuals in Mangattiri, Tirur to build a permanent headquarters and campus for the Malayalam University. A year ago Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan laid the foundation stone for the headquarters building at this place. The government has announced an allocation of Rs 138 crore for the well-equipped campus and allocated Rs 20 crore in the budget. But the administrative permission has not been received yet. The protracted process slows down the dream of having your own campus.
Earlier, huge controversies had erupted regarding land acquisition in Mangattiri. The land acquisition that started in 2015 has ignited controversies including in the Legislative Assembly. It was decided to acquire the land in the survey numbers, which was mentioned in the revenue records as a completely waterlogged land. The controversy was that this mangrove land was not suitable for a university campus and the land owned by people close to the ruling party was being acquired at exorbitant prices. The opposition pointed out that if the current price is 40,000 per cent, the government has paid Rs. It was also pointed out that around 11 acres of land near the land to be acquired belongs to people close to the ruling party and they will have to buy this land at a higher price for campus development in the future. All the controversies are over now. The site at Mangattiri itself has been acquired for the campus. But the complaint is that this enthusiasm is not reflected in the actualization of the campus.
Must be permanent
Employees
Malayalam University has already proved that if it has the necessary facilities and systems, it can make great contributions, including in the field of languages. Despite the limitations, the Malayalam University is making great strides in both academic and non-academic fields. The university has 11 departments including MSc Environmental Studies and MA courses. There are 33 teachers and 28 non-teachers. 500 people including research students are studying. Vallathol Chair and Ezhutchan Chair are also functioning. All but one of the non-teaching staff are temporary employees. The university can function better only if the number of teachers is increased to 65 and the number of staff to 100.
Big goal
To teach literature, science, humanities and technology through Malayalam medium, to carry out studies focusing on Malayalam language, comparative literature, Malayalam criticism, cultural heritage, tribal languages, regional languages, Malayalam poetry, novel, Kerala renaissance, history, museum studies and translation. are the main objectives. The University has also taken up the mission of collecting, preserving and presenting the cultural heritage of Kerala. There are also plans to develop Malayalam in line with information technology.
A Center of Excellence for Classical Malayalam has also been started in Malayalam University under the auspices of the Central Human Resource Development Department. The Center of Excellence was established with the aim of empowering the Malayalam language according to the contemporary situation, translating Malayalam works into other Indian and foreign languages and carrying out research studies. If the Malayalam University, which has a big goal and vision as its foundation, wants to rise with strength, the first thing that needs to be built is its own campus. The authorities should start the steps for this at least before the next Kerala birth.