Remembering Bharath Rathna - K. Kamaraj on his birthday
The man who is known as "Perumthalaivar" among Tamilians and "King Maker" among Indian Politicians. The man who gave at most importance for Education and Agriculture and Industry to help Tamil Nadu to improve in all the fields.
Kumarasamy Kamaraj was born on 15 July 1903 to Kumarasamy Nadar and Sivakami Ammal at Virudhunagar in Tamil Nadu.
Kamaraj's father died when he was six years old. In 1914, Kamaraj dropped out of school to support his family. Kamaraj joined as an apprentice in his maternal uncle Karuppiah's cloth shop after dropping out of school.
At the age of 16, Kamaraj enrolled himself as full-time worker of the Congress Party. He invited speakers, organized meetings and collected funds for the party. He also participated in the march to Vedaranyam led by C. Rajagopalachari as part of the Salt Satyagraha of March 1930.
Kamaraj was arrested and sent to Alipore Jail in Calcutta for two years. He was 27 at the time of his arrest and was released in 1931 following the Gandhi-Irwin Pact.
Kamaraj was arrested again in 1940 and sent to Vellore Central Prison while he was on his way to Wardha to get Gandhiji's approval for a list of satyagrahis.
Kamaraj's political guru and inspiration was S. Satyamurti, orator and parliamentarian.
On 13 April 1954, K. Kamaraj became the Chief Minister of Madras Province.
For Kamaraj, education and industrialization became the priorities. The noon-meal scheme, distribution of school uniforms and free education for students of the weaker sections were the center piece of his education policy.
He reopened the 6000 schools closed by previous government for financial reasons and also added 12000 more schools.
Kamaraj strove to eradicate illiteracy by introducing free and compulsory education up to the eleventh standard. He introduced the Mid-day Meal Scheme to provide at least one meal per day to the lakhs of poor school children (first time in the whole world). He introduced free school uniforms to weed out caste, creed and class distinctions among young minds.
Kamaraj and Sri Bishnuram Medhi (Governor) took efforts to start the IIT Madras in 1959.
Major irrigation schemes were planned in Kamaraj's period . Lower Bhavani, Mani Muthuar , Cauvery Delta , Aarani River , Vaigai Dam , Amravathi , Sathanur , Krishnagiri , Pullambadi , Parambikulam and Neyyaru Dams were among them . The Lower Bhavani Dam in Coimbatore district was constructed with an expenditure of Rs 10/- Crores. 207,000 acres of land are under cultivation.
45,000 acres of land are benefited through Mettur canal of Salem. Another scheme was Krishnagiri in the same district. Vaigai , Sathanur facilitate to cultivate thousands of acres of lands in Madurai and North Arcot districts respectively. Rs 30 crores were planned to spend for Parambikulam River scheme in Kamaraj's period. This has helped for the development of Coimbatore district in agriculture field.
Industries with huge investments in crores of Rupees were started in his period. Neyveli Lignite Scheme, Raw photo film industry at Nilgri, Surgical instruments factory at Guindy, Sugar factories , Bi-Carbonates factories, Cement factories, Railway Coach factory at Perambur, Mettur paper industry were started in the period of Kamaraj.
As former President R. Venkataraman later pointed out, the Kamaraj rule saw Tamil Nadu transforming into an industrialized State from an agrarian one. Today, the fact that Tamil Nadu is enjoying the prime mover advantage in many areas is due to the seeds sown by the Congress regime.
Kamaraj remained Chief Minister for three consecutive terms, winning elections in 1957 and 1962.
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.
In 1964, Kamaraj was elected 'Congress President' and he successfully navigated the party and the nation through the stormy years following Nehru's death. Kamaraj’s political maturity came in full view when Nehru died in 1964. How he settled the succession issue for the Prime Ministership was amply proved by his choice of Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi in succession.he was instrumental in bringing to power two Prime Ministers, Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1964 and Indira Gandhi in 1966 and widely acknowledged as the "Kingmaker" in Indian politics during the 1960s.
On October 2, 1975, Kamaraj died in his sleep. He was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the 'Bharat Ratna' posthumously in 1976.
The domestic terminal of the Chennai airport is named "Kamaraj Terminal" in his honour and the Madurai Kamaraj University has been renamed after him.
Source : Internet
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