K.

Kamaraj

Kamraj was born on July 15, 1903, in a family of traders at Virudunagar. His real name
was Kamakshi Kumaraswamy Nader but was affectionately shortened to Raja by his
mother, Sivakami Ammal. His father, Kumarswamy Nader, was a coconut merchant.
Kamaraj was enrolled at the local elementary school, the Nayanar Vidyalaya but was
later shifted to the high school Kshatriya Vidyalaya.
Unfortunately his father died within a year of Kamaraj's enrollment in school. Kamaraj's
mother sold all jewelry except her earrings and deposited the money with a local
merchant and cared for the entire family on the monthly interest that the money earned.
Kamaraj was not a good student in school and dropped out when he was in the sixth
grade. When he entered mainstream public life he felt handicapped and realized the
importance of a good education. He educated himself during his periods of
imprisonment and even learned English from his co-worker.
Kamaraj joined as an apprentice in his maternal uncle Karuppiah's cloth shop after
dropping out of school. He would slip out from the shop to join processions and attend
public meetings addressed by orators like Dr. Varadarajulu Naidu and George Joseph.
His relatives frowned upon Kamaraj 's budding interest in politics. They sent him to
Thiruvananthapuram to work at another uncle's timer shop. Even there Kamaraj
participated in the Vaikom Satyagraha led by George Joseph, of the Congress, against
the atrocities of the higher caste Hindus on the Harijans. His elders had him called back
home and pressured him to marry. Kamaraj resolutely refused to bow to the dictates of
his elders.
At the age of 16, Kamaraj enrolled himself as full-time worker of the Congress. He
participated in inviting speakers, organizing meetings and collecting funds for the party.
He also participated in the march to Vedaranyam led by Rajagopalachari as part of the
Salt Satyagraha of March 1930.
Kamaraj was arrested and sent to Alipore Jail for two years. He was twenty seven at the
time of arrest and was released in 1931 following the Gandhi-Iriwn Pact. Kamaraj was
implicated in the Virudhunagar Bomb Case two years later. Dr. Varadarajulu Naidu and
George Joseph argued on Kamaraj's behalf and proved the charges to be baseless.
Kamaraj was arrested again in 1940 and sent to Vellore Jail while he was on his way to

Wardha to get Gandhiji's approval for a list of satyagrahis.

While still in jail, Kamaraj was elected Chairman to the Municipal Council. Nine months
later upon his release, Kamaraj went straight to the Municipality and tendered his
resignation from his post. He felt that "one should not accept any post to which one
could not do full justice."
Kamaraj was arrested once more in 1942 and sentenced to three years in the
Amaravathi prison for spreading propaganda material for Quit India movement initiated
by Gandhiji. While in prison, Kamaraj read books and continued his self-education.
Kamaraj's political guru and inspiration was S. Satyamurti, orator and parliamentarian.
Satyamurti found in Kamaraj "an efficient, loyal, indefatigable worker and skillful
organizer (p. 147, Pakshirajan)." Both developed a deep friendship and complemented
each others' skills. In 1936, Satyamurti was elected President of the Provincial
Congress and he appointed Kamaraj the General Secretary. Four years later they
swapped positions. The party base was strengthened under their leadership. So deep
was Kamaraj's devotion for Satyamurti that when India gained independence, he first
went to Satyamurti's house and hoisted the Indian flag there. On his election as Chief
Minister, Kamaraj went to Satyamurti's house and garlanded his photo and paid his
respects to the leader's widow.
On April 13, 1954, K. Kamaraj reluctantly became the Chief Minister of Madras. To
everyone's surprise, Kamaraj nominated C. Subramaniam and M. Bhakthavatsalam,
who had contested his leadership, to the newly formed cabinet. Kamaraj gave simple
advice to his ministers, "Face the problem. Don't evade it. Find a solution, however
small... . People will be satisfied if you do something." The State made immense strides
in education and trade. New schools were opened, 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 upto eleventh standard. He introduced the Midday Meals Scheme to provide
at least one meal per day to the lakhs of poor children. He introduced free school
uniforms to weed out caste, creed and class distinctions among young minds.
Under Kamaraj's administration, a number of irrigation schemes were completed in
record time. The Land Ceiling Act and the Tenancy Protection Act benefited small
farmers and saved them from being exploited by landlords. Medium and small scale
industries prospered in the midst of large industries making Madras one of the leaders
in industrialization. Nehru complimented Kamaraj for making Madras (later renamed
State of Tamil Nadu) the best administered State in India."
Kamaraj remained Chief Minister for three consecutive terms. On October 2, 1963, he
resigned to serve a greater purpose. Kamaraj noticed that the Congress party was
slowly losing its vigor . He came up with a plan which was called the "Kamaraj Plan."
He proposed that all senior Congress leaders should resign form their posts and devote
all their energy to the re-vitalization of the Congress. A number of Central and State
ministers like Lal Bahadur Shastri, Jagjivan Ram, Morarji Desai and S.K. Patil followed
suite and resigned from their posts. In 1964, Kamaraj was elected the President of the
All India Congress and he successfully navigated the nation through the stormy years
following Nehru's death.

On October 2, 1975, Gandhi Jayanti, Kamaraj awoke from his afternoon nap feeling
uneasy. His housekeeper, Vairavan, rang up his physician. While he was on his way
out, Kamaraj said, "Vairavan, put out the lights when you go out." K. Kamaraj died that
day. He was honored with the highest civilian honor, the Bharat Ratna, posthumously in
1976

One of the pioneers of the scheme is the Madras Presidency that started providing cooked meals to
children incorporation schools in the Madras city in 1923. The programme was introduced in a large
scale in 1960s under theChief Ministership of K. Kamaraj. But the first major thrust came in 1982 wh
en the then Chief Minister of TamilNadu, Dr. M. G. Ramachandran, decided to universalise the sche
me for all children in government schools inprimary classes. Later the programme was expanded to c
over all children up to class 10. Tamil Nadus mid-daymeal programme is among the best known in th
e country.
There is an interesting story about how K. Kamaraj got the idea of a noon meal scheme. The spark is
said to haveoccurred in a small village (now a town) called Cheranmahadevi in Tirunelveli District of
Tamil Nadu. K Kamarajarwas a very simple person who used to travel in his car (even without the re
d lamp at the top) and was notaccustomed to convoys.
On one such journey, he had to stop at the railway intersection in Cheranmahadevi and got out of the
car andwaited. He saw a few boys busy with their cows and goats. The Chief Minister had asked one
small boy,
"What areyou doing with this cows? Why didn't you go to school?" The boy immediately answered,
"If I go to school, will yougive me food to eat? I can learn only if I eat." The boy's retort sparked the e
ntire process into establishing the mid-day meal programme.
Several other states of India also have had mid-day meal programmes. The most notable among the
m is Gujaratthat has had it since the late 1980s. Kerala started providing cooked meals in schools si
nce 1995 and so didMadhya Pradesh and Orissa in small pockets. On November 28, 2001 the Supre
me Court of India gave a landmarkdirection, which made it obligatory for the government to provide c
ooked meals to all children in all government andgovernment assisted primary schools. The direction
was resisted vigorously by State governments initially, but theprogramme has become almost univer
sal by 2005.