Kumaraswami Kamaraj was a prominent Indian statesman and an independence who served as the chief minister of the Madras state in independent India (a region that now includes large portions of Tamil Nadu, and also some portions of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala). He also served as the president of the Indian National Congress (INC).
Kamaraj who was born in Tamil Nadu to a family of the Nadar (next-to-lowest), dropped out of school when he was 12, and began working in a cloth shop. Soon, he was drawn to the Indian independence movement against British rule and began attending public meetings held by local INC’s.
Kamaraj joined INC at age 17, just as the noncooperation movement (1920–22) led by Gandhi was getting under way, and became a full-time worker for the independence cause. His participation in the Salt Satyagraha movement in 1930 earned him a sentence of 2 years in prison. He was imprisoned several more times by the British, notably in 1942–45 for his prominent role in the INC’s large-scale Quit India campaign against British rule. He used his time in prison to give himself the education he had not received as a child.
In 1936, he was named the general secretary of the Madras branch of the INC, and in 1940, he became its president. In 1947 he was elevated to the Working Committee of the national party, and he remained associated with that group until 1969. He was also a member of the Constituent Assembly that in 1946 drafted the constitution for soon-to-be independent India.
In 1954, Kamaraj was elected chief minister for Madras state. While in office, he was credited with greatly advancing education in the state through programs that built new schools, introduced compulsory education, and provided meals and free uniforms for students.