The car was on its way to Thoothukudi, starting from Tirunelveli. Suddenly, there was a mob stopping the car. A tall man disembarks from the car and asks why the car was stopped. The mob answers, it was to show their protest against not providing their village with electricity. The tall man then turns to the accompanying official who replies that there is delay in receiving the electricity poles and that’s the reason .The tall man asks whether palm trees can substitute the poles. The official nods in affirmative. Instantly the tall man makes an appeal to the villagers whether each house can sponsor a palm tree for the purpose. The people agrees to the proposal. Shortly thereafter, Kaval Kinaru village gets electricity.
The tall man was none other than Mr. K Kamaraj, the then Chief Minister of Tamilnadu. His spontaneity & presence of mind were such that even highly educated people find themselves turn humble.
Righteous to the core:
In the same period, another incident. There was no sugar factory in Tamilnadu at that time. For setting up the factory with Japanese technology, officials from Japan were invited. An agreement was signed for setting up 10 sugar factories.
The Japanese offered 10% discount from the quoted price for each factory also telling, the discount offered is at the disposal of the Chief Minister or his party who are free to have it. Pat came the reply, in that case, they can set up a 11th factory instead. A life dedicated to absolute righteousness was what Mr.Kamaraj made of, a quality inborn.
Truely he was a Bharat Rathna.
Even for his mother:
He was very particular that his political life should be faultless. For that reason, he made his mother stay in village itself. Every month he sent her Rs.120/- for taking care of her expenses. Even when she wanted him to send Rs.150/-, he didn’t heed, saying she might use the money for visiting her relatives which is not good for her at her age. Even when a village official provided a separate drinking water connection at her house, he saw to it that it was removed overnight saying other people in the village didn’t have separate water connection. Such was his greatness.
Cleanliness in politics:
He was never after power. In fact, he was the one who picked earlier Chief Ministers for Congress viz. Mr. Ramasamy Reddiar of Omandur, Mr. P.S. Kumaraswamy Raja, Mr. Rajagopalachari. Circumstances warranting, when he was compelled to occupy the Chair of Chief Minister, he got an assurance from his Party headquarters that none will intervene in his style of functioning.
Minister’s position to opposition:
Has it ever happened that an opposition member was made a Minister by the ruling party? Mr. Kamaraj did it. He made Mr. C.Subramaniam, Mr.M.Bakthavatsalam, Mr. Ramasamy Padayaachi & Mr. Manickavel Naicker, who were opposing him during election, as Ministers in his 8 member cabinet. He also created a ministry for Harijan Upliftment & Hindu Religious Endowments.
Golden Era of Tamilnadu:
He was the Chief Minister thrice. It is not a tall claim if we call the 9 years of his rule as the Golden Era of Tamilnadu. His achievements in the 9 year period between 1954 and 1963 were so great that they are to be embossed in golden letters. Only a Yugapurusha can achieve.
Growth in Agriculture:
During his rule only, Dams/Hydro Power generation units/ Anicuts were built viz. Manimuththaar, Eastern Bhavani, Pullambadi, Parambikkulam, Kodaiyar, Araniyar, Aliyar, Amaravathi, Kunta, Krishnagiri, Periyaaru, Saaththanur, Vaigai, Vidoor Dams, Anicuts. Agriculture received impetus.
Electricity connection was given to all villages. Roads linking villages with Cities were laid. Land Ceiling Act was enacted. He did everything in his power to help the poor and downtrodden. To this day, it is a fact that not a single Dam or Anicut was built in Tamilnadu, after him.
Industrial Growth:
Due to the rapport established with the Centre bigg public sector enterprises and factories were started during his rule. Integral Coach Factory, Perambur, BHEL Trichy, Manali Refineries, Trichy Navilpattu Gun Factory, Avadi Tank Factory, Salem Steel Factory, Hindustan Photo films, Neyveli Lignite Corporation were set up in Tamilnadu.
Industrial Estates were created for private people to start industries by providing space, electricity and other facilities enabling industrial growth. Big Industries like Ashok Leyland, TI Cycle, Lucas, TVS, Simpson, India Pistons, Enfield emerged. During his rule, Tamilnadu had the good fortune of opening factories making Sugar, Spinning & Weaving, Paper & Boards, Chemicals, Cement and other activities.
Growth in Education:
New schools were built. To ensure that not a single student walked more than 3 KMs for education, it was made compulsory to open one Primary school in every village and one High school in every Panchayat. Education was made free upto 11th standard. Efforts were made to raise the standard of education. School working days were increased from 180 to 200.The curriculam was designed to promote all skills. More importantly, the newly introduced Mid-day Meal Scheme, was the main reason for rise in growth of education from 7% to 37%. In 1959, he made efforts for setting up IIT Chennai jointly with the then Governor Bishnuram Medhi..
His honesty and purity in public life and his full dedication for the betterment of the people have made everyone to think and compare the rule of Kamaraj, with that of Ramarajya, to this day.
Kamaraj Scheme:
In 1963, he resigned as Chief Minister to reiterate the senior Congress leaders to step down and work for strengthening the party. It became known as Kamaraj Scheme. 6 Union Ministers and 6 Chief Ministers (including Lal Bahadur Sastry, Jagjeevan Ram, Morarji Desai, Biju Patnaik and SK Patil) followed suit.
The King maker:
Following this, he was appointed as President of the All India Congress in recognition of his achievements and acumen. After the passing away of Nehru, Kamaraj made Lal Bahadur Sastry the Prime Minister and on Sastri’s death he made Mrs.Indira Gandhi the Prime Minister and was rightly called the “King Maker”.
However, he vehemently opposed the Emergency Rule declared by Mrs. Indira Gandhi in 1975.
Origin:
Kamaraj was born on July 15, 1903 in Virudunagar near Madurai. His parents were Kumarasamy Nadar & Sivakami Ammal. In 1909, he was admitted in Virudhupatti High School. However, due to his fathers death, he could not continue his schooling. He joined his uncle’s cloth store.
At the age of 16, he became a member in Congress party. In 1930, he was arrested for participating in Salt Satyagraha. Later, he was released under Gandhi Irwin Pact. In 1942, he was arrested for the August Revolution & was sentenced for 3 years.
His political Guru was Mr. Sathyamurthy. In 1936, when Sathyamurthy became the President of the State Congress President, Kamaraj became the Secretary. The combination of the two led to a landslide victory in the next election.
Great mistake:
In the 1967 General Election, he stood from his hometown Virudhunagar. However, he was defeated by a student named P.Srinivasan. It was a great mistake committed by people for such a great son of Tamilnadu. It was an unjustifiable event which sowed the seeds of politics of aggression, power grabbing mindset and rise in atrocities, setting aside all his glorious achievements.
Era end:
He passed away on Oct 2, 1977, the Gandhi Jayanthi day, after a nap in the afternoon Other than Rs.63 in his pocket and 10 sets of Khadar clothes, when he died, he did not even have a bank account leave alone own house or any other wealth. Throughout his life, he lived in a rented house and his life itself was a penance for this saintly man.
A pond and a mountain:
Today’s politics of abomination is filled with politics for personal gain, amassing wealth and aiding and abetting any injustice for that, working for bringing down the economy and religious sovereignty of one’s own country, selling ones own self, falling prey to wicked foreign elements and carrying out such atrocities. To compare that with the politics of purity Kamaraj practised, where use of the word self gain itself was considered bad, will be to compare a pond with that of a mountain. Heaving a heavy sigh, thinking of the peak that was Kamaraj, is all one can do and be contended with
Bharat Ratna:
Kamaraj was given India’s highest honour, the Bharat Ratna, posthumously in 1976. The domestic terminal of Chennai International Airport is named after Kamaraj. The University of Madurai is also being called Madurai Kamaraj University.
Ramasubramaniam
