T. S. Soundaram Ramachandran (18 August 1904 – 21 October 1984) was an Indian

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

social reformer A reform movement or reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary move ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

was the daughter of

T. V. Sundaram Iyengar Thirukkurungudi Vengaram Sundram Iyengar (22 March 1877 – 28 April 1955) was an Indian industrialist and automobile pioneer. In 1911, he founded T. V. Sundram Iyengar & Sons, a bus company which later diversified into automobile production and ...

, the founder of T V Sundaram Iyengar and Sons Limited, popularly known as

TVS Group TVS Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate with its principal headquarters in Madurai and international headquarters in Chennai. It has more than 50 subsidiaries including the two-wheeler manufacturer TVS Motor Company and TVS Supply C ...

of companies, one of India's largest industrial conglomerates. She was married young barely at the age of 14 in 1918, her husband Dr. Soundararajan, encouraged her to study. But when he died when she was in her teens, it was her parents who urged her to continue with her studies. It was at

Lady Hardinge Medical College , mottoeng = Through Adversity to Stars , established = 1916 , founder = Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst , director = , faculty = , students = , undergrad = 240 , postgrad ...

in Delhi that she did her medicine degree.

Freedom struggle and remarriage

During her college days in Delhi, she became friends with Sushila Nayyar and through her she met Gandhiji. She was immediately drawn to the freedom struggle, but she did not give up her studies. She was 32 years old in 1936 when she was graduated as a doctor. She then involved herself wholeheartedly into the freedom struggle and through Gandhiji met a G.Ramachandran, a keralite, who was active in the Harijan movement. They fell in love and decided to get married, but her parents were vehemently opposed to the alliance. Gandhi advised them not to keep in touch with each other for a year. After that separation, when they still felt the same way about each other, Gandhiji gave them his blessings and they got married on 7 November 1940. T.S.Soundaram and her husband were soon in the thick of the Quit India Movement, but as freedom neared Gandhi thought she would serve India better by not getting involved in politics. He made her the representative in South India of the Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust and entrusted her with setting up an institution in a rural area that would improve the lot of the poorest of the poor. So was born the idea of Gandhigram, where villagers were taught skills and provided support to revive village industries and the economy of the rural community. Dr.T.S.Soundaram threw herself wholeheartedly into this project that focused on healthcare, education, economic development and social welfare in the rural communities in the surrounding area.

Social work

In 1947, Soundaram started the Kasturba Hospital as a two-bed clinic in a house in Chinnalapatti, a small town on the Madurai Dindigul highway. Under the visionary leadership of Dr Soundaram, the hospital made several inroads into rural health and family welfare which is now a 220-bed hospital. Along with her husband, Dr. G. Ramachandran, she notably founded the

Gandhigram Rural Institute The Gandhigram Rural University (GRI) is a centrally-funded Deemed University based on Dindigul in Tamil Nadu, India. History Dr. T.S. Soundaram and Dr. G. Ramachandran developed the institute. The Gandhigram Rural Institute of Higher Educa ...

in 1947 as a memorial to

Kasturba Gandhi Kasturbai Mohandas Gandhi (, born Kasturbai Gokuldas Kapadia; 11 April 1869 – 22 February 1944) was an Indian political activist. She married Mohandas Gandhi, more commonly known as Mahatma Gandhi, in 1883. With her husband and her eldest so ...

, the deceased wife of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

, with a fund of national donations. This was set up as a rural institution, in a remote place in Dindigul district,

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

to serve the most deprived of people. The

became a deemed university in 1976.

Political life

Soundaram was elected

Member of the Legislative Assembly (India) A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district (constituency) to the legislature of State government in the Indian system of government. From each constituency, the people elect o ...

twice from then Madras State, first in 1952 from

Athoor (State Assembly Constituency) Athoor is a legislative assembly in Dindigul district, that includes the city, Athoor. Its State Assembly Constituency number is 129. It is one of the 234 State Legislative Assembly Constituencies in Tamil Nadu, in India. Athoor assembly ...

and in 1957 from Vedasandur (State Assembly Constituency) representing

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

, then an MP in 1962 representing

Dindigul (Lok Sabha constituency) Dindigul is a Lok Sabha (Parliament of India) constituency in Tamil Nadu. Its Tamil Nadu Parliamentary Constituency number is 22 of 39. Assembly segments 2009-present Before 2009 #Tirumangalam (State Assembly Constituency), Tirumanagalam (mov ...

. With her move again to Delhi, she was appointed the Union Deputy Minister for Education. It was during her tenure as Deputy Minister that she introduced compulsory and free primary education throughout India. She also helped start the National Service Scheme (NSS), that still has a strong rural service element to it. In the year 1962 she was awarded

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

for her contribution towards social work. Soundaram lost the 1967 general election from

to N. Anbuchezhian a young student leader of DMK with a margin of more than one lakh votes, subsequently she went back to social work and retired from politics.

Commemoration

* A commemorative stamp was issued on 2 October 2005.Stamp on Dr T.S. Soundram released
blonnet.com. 2 October 2005

References

External links