Dravidian University in Andhra faces a major crisis on founder’s centenary

Established in 1997 as a grand intellectual bridge for South India's linguistic heritage, Dravidian University in Kuppam, Andhra Pradesh, was envisioned as a vibrant, shared academic home for Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam languages and cultures.

Nearly three decades later, however, that cultural idealism has given way to a grim reality. Today, the institution is facing an existential crisis, deeply crippled by severe financial distress, chronic administrative instability, and a steady erosion of its academic relevance.

The crisis is particularly poignant because 2026 marks the birth centenary of Prof VI Subramoniam, the doyen of Dravidian linguistics, who was the key force behind the university's creation.

A visionary's dream

In the 1990s, the idea of a common university for Dravidian studies carried enormous intellectual and political significance. The goal was ambitious but clear: to create a shared academic space for the languages, histories and cultures of South India.

At the centre of that vision was Prof V I Subramoniam — noted linguist, researcher and institution builder. Scholars credit him with shaping the movement for Dravidian linguistic studies and pushing for a dedicated university to anchor that work.

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That dream became a reality in 1997 when the Andhra Pradesh government established a Dravidian University in Kuppam. The location was symbolic — the town sits close to the borders of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, representing the shared roots of the Dravidian-speaking states.

Promise unfulfilled

The university was expected to become a major research hub for language studies, archaeology, tribal studies, folklore and comparative culture. At one stage, many believed it could emerge as one of India's premier humanities institutions.

But the promise slowly began to fade. Over the years, the university faced repeated administrative crises, a lack of funding and delays in recruitment. Reports emerged of salary delays for staff, stalled infrastructure projects and weak academic expansion.

Despite its historic importance, the university gradually slipped out of national academic conversations. Its research output declined, its visibility waned, and many scholars began asking whether governments had abandoned the original vision altogether.

Calls for revival

Prof K S Chalam, former vice chancellor of Dravidian University, argues that the institution needed sustained investment and academic autonomy to grow into a serious research centre — but instead became trapped in administrative and financial uncertainty.

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Chalam said, "There are hundreds of universities, many in themselves. There are two Sanskrit universities — but in the entire world, there is only one university for [Dravidian] people. Therefore, it has the potential to develop, provided we have leaders — both academic as well as administrative — including the political leadership of the sponsoring states. All four states should take responsibility and also interest in developing it."

He stressed that the Dravidian University should be a platform where scholars from all four or five language communities can come together to study and discuss their cultures — but that, so far, this has not happened.

Steps being taken

Acknowledging the gaps, the current vice-chancellor Chinna Mallaiah Lakkineni said the university is working to address them. He says separate accommodation has been provided for students from Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, and that language departments are active with scholars enrolled from across the states.

"We need more support because the university is going to expand. We are establishing some centres and that is why we need more support from all these governments. This is a residential university — all students stay on campus — and we need more hostels to accommodate students from all the states," Lakkineni said.

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The vice-chancellor also spoke of an ambitious new project: developing a single script for all Dravidian languages. "That is the great work we are thinking about," he said, adding that financial support from all four state governments would be needed to take it forward.

To sustain itself in the meantime, the university is also introducing self-finance courses.

Civilisational project at stake

Many academics believe that revival will require far more than administrative reforms.

Dravidian University was never meant to function as just another state university — it was envisioned as a civilisational project, a place where the shared intellectual heritage of South India could be studied, preserved and reimagined.

The irony is hard to miss. This crisis comes during the centenary year of Subramoniam himself — a scholar remembered not just for writing books, but for building institutions. He was the founder of the Dravidian Linguistics Association of India, the first vice chancellor of Tamil University in Thanjavur, and the first pro-chancellor of Dravidian University, Kuppam.

Can India celebrate the visionary who imagined a global centre for Dravidian studies, while the institution he inspired struggles to survive?

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