Industry body seeks restoration of name of Kerala University as Travancore University

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Trivandrum Chamber of Commerce and Industry has approached Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan with a request to restore the original name of the University of Kerala as the University of Travancore or Travancore University.

The office bearers of the chamber on Friday submitted a memorandum in this regard to Khan. They said that it is only appropriate to rename the varsity as the University of Travancore or Travancore University as named originally, to reflect the cultural identity of the region and also acknowledge the contributions made by the people of erstwhile Travancore to the development of higher education in India.

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"We understand that renaming a university is a major decision and requires careful thought. Nonetheless, we believe that this change would be a positive step towards preserving the cultural identity of the region and acknowledge its rich heritage," the memorandum said. Detailing the historical background of the decades-old university, it said that the Travancore University was established in 1937 by the erstwhile ruler of Travancore, King Sri Chitra Thirunal Balarama Varma and was acclaimed internationally for its quality of education.

In the memorandum, the chamber president SN Raghuchandran Nair said the Travancore University was renamed in 1957 as the University of Kerala to represent the whole state. In the early days, the name 'University of Kerala' had relevance as it has three campuses located in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, and Kozhikode, it said. However, in 1968, the university centre at Kozhikode became a full-fledged university and became the University of Calicut, affiliating the colleges located in Thrissur, Palakkad, Kozhikode, and Kannur districts.

Subsequently, the Cochin University of Science and Technology - CUSAT came into existence in 1971. Pointing out that all the present universities in the state represent their respective regions, it said that these developments have shrunk the jurisdiction of the University of Kerala to Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha districts and some parts of Pathanamthitta.