As Moodbidri is a small town, the people in and around it found it very difficult to get quality higher education in professional and non-professional courses. They had to travel a long distance of 40-50 kms for graduation. There were no sophisticated hospitals either. Today, the chain of institutions started in 1995 has transformed Moodbidri into an international educational township.
Man behind this, Dr. M. Mohan Alva was born in an agrarian family on 31st May, 1952 in Mijar, a small village near Moodbidri. Dr. Alva had his early education in his native village and later he secured his Bachelor’s degree in Ayurvedic Medicine in Udupi, 1980.
Dr. Alva set up “Alva Pharmacy” in 1981, which today holds numerable patents for innovation. In 1984, “Ekalvya Sports Club” was started and it was just an example for his continued support to sports. “Alva Educational Trust” came into existence in 1995 that has numerable institutions on varied domains. In 1999, “Shobhavana”, named after his wife, started flourishing and there are about 2000 different species of medicine plants which have been Organically Cultivated. 2 flagship limelight events of international fame on the field of art and literature- “Alva’s Virasat” and “Alva’s Nudisiri”- are being successfully hosted by Dr. Alva himself for over 19 years now.
Dr. Alva established institutions providing basic education starting from Pre-University, Degree courses in faculties like Arts, Commerce and Science, in general; then he also established institutions in Medical sciences in particular Ayurveda, Homoeopathy, Naturopathy and Yoga at Graduate level and Post Graduate courses in Ayurveda and Para Medical Courses like Nursing, Physiotherapy and Medical Laboratory Technology, latest being a full-fledged Engineering college called Alva’s Institute of Engineering & Technology. All the institutions are run without any profit motive.