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Sunday, 14 October 2012

RADAN

In this Indian name, the name Kumarasami is a patronymic, not a family name, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Kamaraj.
K. Kamaraj
கு. காமராஜ்
Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) for Nagercoil
In office
1967–1975
Preceded by A. Nesamony
Succeeded by Kumari Ananthan
Constituency Nagercoil
Member of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly for Sattur
In office
1957–1967
Preceded by S. Ramaswamy Naidu
Succeeded by S. Ramaswamy Naidu
Constituency Sattur
Member of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly for Gudiyatham
In office
1954–1957
Preceded by Rathnaswamy and A. J. Arunachala Mudaliar
Succeeded by V. K. Kothandaraman and T. Manavalan
Constituency Gudiyatham
Chief Minister of the Madras State (Tamil Nadu)
In office
1954–1963
Preceded by C. Rajagopalachari
Succeeded by M. Bhakthavatsalam
Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) for Srivilliputhur
In office
1952–1954
Preceded by None
Succeeded by S. S. Natarajan
Constituency Srivilliputhur
President of the Indian National Congress (Organisation)
In office
1967–1971
Preceded by None
Succeeded by Morarji Desai
President of the Indian National Congress
In office
1963–1967
Preceded by Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
Succeeded by S. Nijalingappa
President of the Madras Provincial Congress Committee
In office
1946–1952
Succeeded by P. Subbarayan
Personal details
Born (1903-07-15)15 July 1903
Virudhunagar, Tamil Nadu, India
Died 2 October 1975(1975-10-02) (aged 72)
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Nationality Indian
Political party Indian National Congress
Religion Hinduism[citation needed]
Signature
Kumarasami Kamaraj (Tamil: குமாரசாமி காமராஜ்) better known as K. Kamaraj (15 July 1903[1] – 2 October 1975[2]) was an Indian politician from Tamil Nadu widely acknowledged as the "Kingmaker" in Indian politics during the 1960s. He was the chief minister of Tamil Nadu during 1954-1963 and a Member of Parliament during 1952-1954 and 1969-1975. He was known for his simplicity and integrity.[1][3]
He was involved in the Indian independence movement.[4] As a high-ranking office bearer of the Indian National Congress, he was instrumental in bringing to power two Prime Ministers, Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1964 and Indira Gandhi in 1966. In Tamil Nadu, his home state, he is still remembered for bringing school education to millions of the rural poor by introducing free education and the free Midday Meal Scheme during his tenure as chief minister. He was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, posthumously in 1976.[5] The domestic terminal of the Chennai airport is named "Kamaraj Terminal", Chennai's Beach Road renamed "Kamarajar Salai", Bengaluru's North Parade Road as "K. Kamaraj Rd." and the Madurai Kamaraj University in his honour.[3][6]

Contents

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[edit] Early life

Kamaraj was born on 15 July 1903 to Kumarasamy Nadar and Sivakami Ammal at Virudhunagar in Tamil Nadu. His parents were from a trading family. His father Kumarasamy Nadar, was a coconut merchant. Kamaraj was initially enrolled in the Enadhy Nayanar Vidyalaya elementary school, and later in high school Kshatriya Vidyalaya. Kamaraj's father died when he was six years old and his mother was forced to support her family by selling her jewellery. In 1914, Kamaraj dropped out of school to support his family.[7]

[edit] Politics

On 13 April 1954, K. Kamaraj became the Chief Minister of Madras Province. To everyone's surprise, Kamaraj nominated C. Subramaniam and M. Bhakthavatsalam, who had contested his leadership, to the newly formed cabinet. Never did Kamaraj aspire for any post in the party or in the administration. For him the posts were like a towel over the shoulder . Without any hesitation he chose to quit posts for the benefit of future generation .

[edit] Education

Kamaraj removed the family vocation based Hereditary Education Policy introduced by Rajaji. He reopened the 6000 schools closed by Rajaji government for financial reasons and also added 12000 more schools. The State made immense strides in education and trade. New schools were opened, so that poor rural students were to walk no more than 3 miles (4.8 km) to their nearest school. Better facilities were added to existing ones. No village remained without a primary school and no panchayat without a high school. Kamaraj strove to eradicate illiteracy by introducing free and compulsory education up to the eleventh standard. He introduced the Midday Meal Scheme to provide at least one meal per day to the lakhs of poor school children (first time in the world). He introduced free school uniforms to weed out caste, creed and class distinctions among young minds.
Kamaraj Statue in Marina Beach, Chennai depicting his contribution to education in the state
During British regime the education was only 7 percent. But in Kamaraj's period it reached 37% . During Rajaji's period there were 12000 schools in the state. Whereas it was 27000 in the period of Kamaraj. Apart from increasing number of schools, steps were taken to improve standard of education. To improve the standards, number of working day were increased from 180 to 200. Unnecessary holidays were reduced. Syllabus were prepared to give opportunity to various abilities. Kamaraj and Sri Bishnuram Medhi (Governor) took efforts to establish IIT Madras in 1959.[8]

[edit] Agriculture

Major irrigation schemes were planned in Kamaraj's period . Dams and irrigation canals were build across Lower Bhavani, Mani Muthar, Aarani, Vaigai, Amaravathi, Sathanur, Krishnagiri, Pullambadi, Parambikulam and Neyyaru among others. The Lower Bhavani Dam in Erode district brought 207,000 acres (840 km2) of land under cultivation. 45,000 acres (180 km2) of land benefited from canals constructed from Mettur Dam. Vaigai and Sathanur systems facilitated cultivation across thousands of acres of lands in Madurai and North Arcot districts respectively. Rs 30 crores were planned to be spent for Parambikulam River scheme in Kamaraj's period. 150 lakhs of acres of lands was brought under cultivation. One third of this i.e. 56 lakhs of acres of land got permanent irrigation facility.
In 1957-61 1,628 Tanks were de-silted under Small Irrigation Scheme 2000 wells were dug with outlets. Long term loans with 25% subsidy were given to farmers. Apart from farmers who are having dry lands were given oil engines, electric pump sets on installment basis.

[edit] Commerce and Industry

Industries with huge investments in crores of Rupees were started in his period. Neyveli Lignite Corporation, BHEL at Trichy, Manali Oil Refinery, Hindustan raw photo film factory at Ooty, Surgical instruments factory at Chennai, Railway Coach factory at Chennai were established. Industries such as paper, sugar, chemicals and cement took off during the period.

[edit] Kamaraj's First Cabinet

Kamaraj's council of ministers during his first tenure as Chief Minister(13 April 1954 - 31 March 1957)[9]:
Minister Portfolios
K. Kamaraj Chief Minister, Public and Police in the Home Department
M. Bhaktavatsalam Agriculture, Forests, Fisheries, Cinchona, Rural Welfare, Community Projects, National Extension Scheme, Women’s Welfare, Industries and Labour and Animal Husbandry and Veterinary
C. Subramaniam Finance, Food, Education, Elections and Information and Publicity and Law (Courts and Prisons)
A. B. Shetty Medical and Public Health, Co-operation, Housing and Ex-servicemen.
M. A. Manickavelu Naicker Land Revenue, Commercial Taxes and Rural Development
Raja Sri Shanmuga Rajeswara Sethupathi Public Works, Accommodation Control, Engineering Colleges, Stationery and Printing including Establishment questions of the Stationery Department and the Government Press
B. Parameswaran Transport, Harijan Uplift, Hindu Religious Endowments, Registration and Prohibition
S. S. Ramasami Padayachi Local Administration
Changes
  • Following the States Reorganisation Act of 1956, A. B. Shetty quit the Ministry on 1 March 1956 and his portfolio was shared between the other ministers.

[edit] Kamaraj's Second Cabinet

Kamaraj's council of ministers during his second tenure as Chief Minister(1 April 1957 - 1 March 1962)[10]
Minister Portfolios
K. Kamaraj Chief Minister, Public, Planning and Development (including Local development Works, Women's Welfare, Community Projects and Rural Welfare), National Extension Scheme
M. Bhaktavatsalam Home
C. Subramaniam Finance
R. Venkataraman Industries
M. A. Manickavelu Naicker Revenue
P. Kakkan Works
V. Ramaiah Electricity
Lourdhammal Simon Local Administration

[edit] Kamaraj's Third Cabinet

Kamaraj's council of ministers during his third tenure as Chief Minister(3 March 1962 - 2 October 1963)[10][11][12]
Minister Portfolios
K. Kamaraj Chief Minister, Public, Planning and Development (including Local development Works, Women's Welfare, Community Projects and Rural Welfare), National Extension Scheme
M. Bhaktavatsalam Finance and Education
Jothi Venkatachalam Public Health
R. Venkataraman Revenue
S. M. Abdul Majid Local Administration
P. Kakkan Agriculture
V. Ramaiah Public Works and Revenue
N. Nallasenapathi Sarkarai Mandradiar Cooperation and Forests
G. Bhuvaraghan Publicity and Information

[edit] Kamaraj Plan

Kamaraj remained Chief Minister for three consecutive terms, winning elections in 1957 and 1962. Kamaraj noticed that the Congress party was slowly losing its vigor. He came up with a plan which was called the "Kamaraj Plan".
Kamaraj statue at East Tambaram, Chennai
On 2 October 1963, he resigned from the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Post. He proposed that all senior Congress leaders should resign from their posts and devote all their energy to the re-vitalization of the Congress.
In 1963 he suggested to Nehru that senior Congress leaders should leave ministerial posts to take up organisational work. This suggestion came to be known as the Kamaraj Plan, which was designed primarily to dispel from the minds of Congressmen the lure for power, creating in its place a dedicated attachment to the objectives and policies of the organisation. Well impressed by the achievements and acumen of Kamraj, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru felt that his services were needed more at the national level. In a swift move he brought Kamaraj to Delhi as the President of the Indian National Congress. Nehru realized that if he had wide learning and vision, Kamaraj possessed enormous common sense and pragmatism. Kamaraj was elected President, Indian National Congress, on 9 October 1963.[13]

[edit] The King Maker

After Nehru's death in 1964, Kamaraj successfully navigated the party through the turbulent times. As the president of the Indian National Congress, he refused to become the next prime minister himself and was instrumental in bringing to power two Prime Ministers, Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1964 and Nehru's daughter Indira Gandhi in 1966. For this role, he is widely acclaimed as the "King Maker" during the 1960s.

[edit] Split of Congress

When the Congress split in 1969, Kamaraj became the leader of the INC (O) in Tamil Nadu. The party fared poorly in the 1971 elections amid allegations of fraud by the opposition parties. He remained as the leader of INC (O) till his death in 1975.

[edit] Electoral history

Year Post Constituency Party Opponent Election Result
1937 M.L.A Sattur INC Unopposed 1937 elections Won
1946 M.L.A Sattur-Aruppukottai INC Unopposed 1946 elections Won
1952 M.P Srivilliputtur INC G. D. Naidu Indian General Elections, 1951 Won
1954 M.L.A Gudiyatham INC V. K. Kothandaraman By Election Won
1957 M.L.A Sattur INC Jayarama Reddiar Madras legislative assembly election, 1957 Won
1962 M.L.A Sattur INC P. Ramamoorthy Madras legislative assembly election, 1962 Won
1967 M.L.A Virudhunagar INC P. Seenivasan Tamil Nadu state assembly election, 1967 Lost
1969 M.P Nagercoil INC M. Mathias By Election Won
1971 M.P Nagercoil INC (O) M. C. Balan Indian General Elections, 1971 Won

[edit] Death

Kamaraj memorial in Chennai
Kamaraj memorial in Chennai
On October 2, 1975, Kamaraj died in his sleep.[2] He was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the 'Bharat Ratna' posthumously in 1976.

[edit] Legacy

A large number of statues have been erected in his honor across the state. The domestic terminal of the Chennai airport is named "Kamaraj Terminal", Chennai's Beach Road renamed "Kamarajar Salai", Bengaluru's North Parade Road as "K. Kamaraj Rd." and the Madurai Kamaraj University in his honour.

[edit] Popular culture

In 2004 a Tamil film titled Kamaraj was made based on the life history of Kamaraj. The English version of the film was released on DVD in 2007. There are still some noble persons in India like Manik Sarkar -the cm of tripura.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Revised edition of book on Kamaraj to be launched, The Hindu 08 July 2009
  2. ^ a b Crusading Congressman, Frontline Magazine, 15-28 September 2001
  3. ^ a b He raised the bar with simplicity, The Hindu 16 July 2008
  4. ^ The commonsense politician, Frontline Magazine, 17-30 August 2002
  5. ^ "Padma Awards Directory (1954-2007)". Ministry of Home Affairs. http://www.mha.nic.in/pdfs/PadmaAwards1954-2007.pdf. Retrieved 7 December 2010. 
  6. ^ Man of the people, The Tribune October 4, 1975
  7. ^ Kapur, Raghu Pati (1966). Kamaraj, the iron man. Deepak Associates. pp. 12. http://books.google.com/books?id=RoVHAAAAIAAJ. 
  8. ^ IIT-M book website 'the chapter begins'
  9. ^ A Review of the Madras Legislative Assembly (1952-1957)
  10. ^ a b Kandaswamy. P (2008). The political Career of K. Kamaraj. Concept Publishing Company. pp. 62–64. ISBN [[Special:BookSources/817122801808|817122801808]]. http://books.google.com/books?id=bOjT3qffnMkC. 
  11. ^ The Madras Legislative Assembly, Third Assembly I Session
  12. ^ The Madras Legislative Assembly, Third Assembly II Session
  13. ^ http://www.dpcc.co.in/inc/history/presidents/k_kamaraj.php

[edit] External links

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