President Pranab Mukherjee releasing bi-centenary special Postal Cover at CMS College in Kottayam on Friday. Kerala Governor Justice P Sathasivam, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and other dignitaries are also seen. PTI Photo Back in 2013, when Centre mooted the idea of granting heritage tags to India's oldest colleges, no one thought an institution from a quaint town in Kerala would make the cut. But exceeding expectations, CMS College, Kottayam, came second in the list of 19 colleges, which were accorded with the prestigious UGC heritage status.
However, winning that tag was no easy task; both luck and toil were equally instrumental in the successful bid for the status. Since 2014, the college had been preparing to submit a project for Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), a scheme envisaged by the centre for upgrading the country's higher education with an outlay of Rs 1 lakh crore.
CMS College, KottayamMeanwhile, the college was also preparing to organise the bicentenary celebrations falling in 2016-17. Thus, the college was simultaneously preparing for two major programmes. “For the project to be submitted at RUSA, we were well on course by collecting and compiling the testimonials of our rich heritage for a presentation,” Verghese C. Joshua, vice-principal of CMS college and the co-ordinator for the RUSA project, says.
“We were almost done with preparations for submitting the project for RUSA when we hit upon the idea of responding to the Centre's announcement inviting colleges to apply for a special heritage status,” Joshua says, “But, we had just 14 days and submitting a project within that stipulated time was a big challenge. The college was already equipped with almost all the required documents, painstakingly compiled over the months for RUSA. But we needed the extremely technical and architectural details of the structures in the campus to apply for the heritage tag.
The first printing machine built in Kerala. Photo: CMS college archive“This was aided by a team led by renowned architect Padmasree G. Sankar, who gave us the technical support. A co-ordinated effort on a massive scale by his team collected and compiled with precision all the technical details that was required to submit for the grant proposal. And it did definitely play a major role in our successful bid,” Joshua said.
“The selection committee that reviewed the proposals for the project comprised of five to six experts in the realm of heritage in higher education and architecture as well as an advisory committee. The materials we carried for presentation were so vast that we had to carry them in trolley bags into the hall for presentation. The authority constituted for the scrutiny of the projects dwelt on all technical aspects and and examined them in minute details,” Joshua beams with pride.
The old telescope at CMS college. Photo with special arrangementIn February, during the bicentenary celebration of the college, President Pranab Mukherjee visited the shrine of letters and declared the special heritage status for the college.
The rich history of the college that was established in 1817 definitely aided its success. The college was set up by the Church Mission Society with Benjamin Bailey as its first principal. Bailey continued his association with The College even after he stepped down as its principal. He was instrumental in setting up Kerala’s first printing press at the college in 1820. It was Baily who designed the modern Malayalam script and adapted it for printing in his own printing machine.
An archival photograph of CMS college and chapel. Courtesy: CMS College“The college won a grant of Rs. 4.08 crore, which is second best behind Cotton college of Guwahati (Rs 4.35 crore). None of the other selected colleges secured a grant beyond Rs 2 crore,” Joshua said.
With the autonomous status too up its sleeve and a plethora of courses covering film and other areas in the offing, the college is all set to make it big in the educational sector in the years to come.
An archival photograph of CMS college. Courtesy: CMS College