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O. V. Alagesan

O. V. Alagesan
Member of Constituent Assembly of India[1]
In office 1946–1950
Prime Minister	Jawaharlal Nehru
Member of parliament, Lok Sabha for Chengalpattu
In office 1952–1957
In office 1962–1967
Prime Minister	Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi
Member of parliament, Lok Sabha for Tiruttani
In office 1971–1977
Prime Minister	Indira Gandhi
Member of parliament, Lok Sabha for Arakkonam
In office 1977–1980
Prime Minister	Morarji Desai, Charan Singh
India's Ambassador to Ethiopia
In office 1968–1971
Prime Minister	Indira Gandhi
Union Deputy Minister for Transport and Railways [1]
In office 1952–1957
Prime Minister	Jawaharlal Nehru
Minister of State (Irrigation and Power) Fourth Nehru ministry
In office May 1962 – July 1963
Prime Minister	Jawaharlal Nehru
Minister of State (Mines and Fuel)
In office July 1963 – November 1963
Prime Minister	Jawaharlal Nehru
Minister of State (Petroleum and Chemicals)
In office November 1963 – May 1964
Prime Minister	Jawaharlal Nehru
Minister of State (Petroleum and Chemicals) [2]
In office June 1964 – January 1966
Prime Minister	Lal Bahadur Shastri
Personal details
Born	(1911-09-06)6 September 1911 Ozhalur Village, Chengalpattu District
Died	3 January 1992(1992-01-03) (aged 80)
Nationality	Indian
Political party	Indian National Congress
Spouse(s)	Smt Pattammal, 1937
Children	s. Vamanan d. Shyamala, Brinda and Urmila
Alma mater	Presidency College, Chennai
Profession	agriculturist
Signature

Ozhalur Viswanatha Mudaliar Alagesan (Tamil: ஒழலூர் விஸ்வநாத முதலியார் அழககேசன்) (6 September 1911 – 3 January 1992) was an Indian politician and freedom fighter from the Indian stateofTamil Nadu. He served as a Member of parliament, Lok Sabha from 1952 to 1957, 1962 to 1967 and from 1971 to 1980.

Politics[edit]

Alagesan was a member of the Constituent Assembly and Provisional Parliament from 1946 to 1951. In 1952, he was elected Member of Parliament from Chingleput.^[3] He lost the elections in 1957 but was re-elected in 1962. He supported the anti Hindi agitation and opposed the Central Government's language policy. On 11 February 1965, he and C.Subramaniam two union ministers from Madras state, resigned protesting the Union government's language policy. After Shastri's assurances to Tamils that English would continue to be used for centre-state and intrastate communications and that the All India Civil Services examination would continue to be conducted in English, he and C.Subramaniam withdrew their resignations.^[4] He also served as a Member of Parliament from Tiruthani from 1971 to 1977 and Arakkonam from 1977 to 1980.

As an active parliamentarian, he left an indelible imprint on the proceedings of the House. He had also served effectively on various Committees of the House. A versatile personality. he was a reputed social reformer and a distinguished administrator. He relentlessly worked for the removal of social evils like untouchability and prohibition.^[5]

Alagesan served as India's Ambassador to Ethiopia from 1968 to 1971.

Indian Independence Movement[edit]

He took active part in the Indian Independence movement. He discontinued studies in 1930 to join Salt Satyagraha movement under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi and suffered imprisonment; participated in (i) Civil Disobedience movement; (ii) Individual Satyagraha movement; (iii) Quit India movement; and was imprisoned for more than three years.^[1]

Development of TamilNadu (earlier Madras) State[edit]

As Central Minister and member of Parliament, he was instrumental in getting the Madras Refineries, the Kalpakkam Nuclear Power Plant and, along with Dewan Bahadur Gopalaswamy Iyengar, the Integral Coach Factory, set up in Tamil Nadu. His contributions were acknowledged in a multi party function held to celebrate his centenary in 2011.^[6]

Contribution to education[edit]

He was Founder-President of Bhaktavatsalam Educational Trust registered in 1958, which runs the following institutions; (i) Bhaktavalsalam Shastiabda Purthi High School, Athur; (ii) Bhaktavatsalam Polytechnic, Kancheepuram, (iii) Sarojini Varadappan Girls High School, Poonamalle, all in Chengalpatttu District; (iv) Brindavan Public School, Coonoor, Nilgiri District; and (v) a branch of the above school at Athur. ^[1]

Writings[edit]

Alagesan translated Jawaharlal Nehru 's Glimpses of World History into Tamil which was published as உலக சரித்திரம்(பாகம்1,2) by Alaigal Publishers அலைகள் வெளியீட்டகம்.^[7]

Death[edit]

Alagesan died on 3 January 1992 at the age of 81.

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

• "Obituary References". LokSabha Debates 26 February 1992. Parliament of India. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2008.