Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith is a public university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. Established on 10 February 1921 as Kashi Vidyapith and later renamed, it is administered under the state legislature of the government of Uttar Pradesh. It received university status in 1974 as a deemed-to-be-university and state university status in 2009 by The Uttar Pradesh State Universities (Amendment) Act, 2008 (act no. 6 of 2009). The university has more than 400+ affiliated colleges spread over six districts. It is one of the largest state universities in Uttar Pradesh, with hundreds of thousands of students, both rural and urban. It offers a range of professional and academic courses in arts, science, commerce, agriculture science, law, computing and management.
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Foundation
Babu Shiv Prasad Gupta and Bhagwan Das established the university in Varanasi, on 10 February 1921, during the non-cooperation movement of the freedom struggle. Originally named Kashi Vidyapith, the university was renamed Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith in 1995. It was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi.
Kashi Vidyapith was the action field of the Indian National Movement & a pilgrimage for the Socialists.
Alumni
Alumni of Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith include:
Naheed Abidi, scholar and writer
Ramakrishna Hegde, former chief minister of Karnataka
B. V. Keskar, former union minister of India
Kalraj Mishra, former governor of Rajasthan
Rajaram, former national vice-president of BSP
G. Sanjeeva Reddy, ex. MP, president of Indian National Trade Union Congress
Nivaan Sen, Indian actor and producer
Anant Maral Shastri, freedom fighter, writer and scholar
Bhola Paswan Shastri, former chief minister of Bihar
Lal Bahadur Shastri, former prime minister of India
Tribhuvan Narain Singh, former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh
Gopi Sonkar, Indian field hockey player
Kamlapati Tripathi, former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh