K. R. Gouri Amma - Misplaced Pages

(Redirected from K. R. Gowri) Indian politician (1919–2021)

K. R. Gouri
K. R. Gouri

Travancore-Cochin Legislative Assembly
In office 1952–1953
Constituency	Cherthala
Travancore-Cochin Legislative Assembly
In office 1954–1956
Rajpramukh	Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma
Constituency	Cherthala
1st Revenue Minister of Kerala
In office 5 April 1957 – 31 July 1959
Governor	Burgula Ramakrishna Rao
Succeeded by	K. Chandrasekharan
Constituency	Cherthala
Minister for Revenue, Food and Civil Supplies
In office 6 March 1967 – 1 November 1969
Governor	V. Viswanathan
Preceded by	K. Chandrasekharan
Succeeded by	K. T. Jacob
Constituency	Cherthala
Minister for Agriculture and Social Welfare
In office 25 January 1980 – 20 October 1981
Governor	Jothi Venkatachalam
Constituency	Aroor
Minister for Industries and Social Welfare
In office 26 March 1987 – 17 June 1991
Governor	P. Ramachandran
Preceded by	P. K. Kunhalikutty
Succeeded by	E. Ahamed
Constituency	Aroor
Minister for Agriculture
In office 17 May 2001 – 29 August 2004
Governor	Sukhdev Singh Kang
Preceded by	Krishnan Kaniyamparambil
Constituency	Aroor
Minister for Agriculture
In office 31 August 2004 – 12 May 2006
Governor	R. L. Bhatia
Succeeded by	Mullakkara Retnakaran
Constituency	Aroor
General Secretary of Janadhipathya Samrakshana Samithi
In office 30 March 1994 – 31 January 2021

Personal details
Born	Kalathilparambil Raman Gouri (1919-07-14)14 July 1919 Pattanakkad, (near Cherthala), Travancore, British India (now Kerala, India)
Died	11 May 2021(2021-05-11) (aged 101) Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
Political party	JSS
Other political affiliations	CPI (1948–1964) CPI(M) (1964–1994)
Spouse	T. V. Thomas (estranged)
Relatives	Susheela Gopalan
Alma mater	Maharaja's College, Ernakulam St. Teresa's College, Ernakulam Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram
Awards	Kerala Sahitya Academy Award
Signature
Website	Government of Kerala
Nickname	Gouri Amma

In this Indian name, the name Kalathilparambil Raman is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Gouri.

K. R. Gouri (14 July 1919 – 11 May 2021), born Kalathilparambil Raman Gouri, commonly known as Gouri Amma, was an Indian politician from Alappuzha in central Kerala. She was one of the most prominent leaders of the Left movement in India.

Born near Cherthala, K. R. Gouri studied at Maharaja's College and Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram. Refusing an offer from the Government of Travancore to be appointed a magistrate, she joined the Communist Party in 1948. She was elected to Travancore-Cochin Legislative Assembly in 1952 and 1954. She served as the Land Revenue or Social Welfare minister in the 1957, 1967 (Namboodiripad), 1980 and 1987 (Nayanar) Kerala ministries. As the Revenue Minister in the first Kerala ministry, she famously piloted the Kerala Agrarian Relations Bill.

K. R. Gouri was expelled from Communist Party of India Marxist in 1994, and subsequently became a minister in the Congress-led Kerala Cabinet from 2001 to 2006.

Early life

Early career

K. R. Gouri was born on 14 July 1919 to K. A. Raman and Parvathi Amma in a wealthy Ezhava family in Alappuzha, Travancore. She studied at Maharaja's College, Ernakulam and St. Teresa's College, Ernakulam (Graduation in History). She obtained her law degree (B. L.) from Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram and enrolled as an advocate at Sherthalai.

Gouri was the first woman from the Ezhava community to get a degree in law. She famously refused an offer from C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar, the Prime Minister of Travancore, to be appointed a government magistrate.

She married her colleague T. V. Thomas in 1957 who at that time had a surviving legally married wife and son. The couple was later estranged.

In Travancore politics

K. R. Gouri started her public life with the Quit India Movement and later joined the agitation for the merger Travancore with the state of India. She joined the Communist Party in 1948 (by this period, she had started working for the Party among coir workers in Alappuzha). She unsuccessfully ran for office from Sherthalai Constituency in the 1948 Travancore elections. Subsequently she underwent imprisonment and endured severe police torture.

She was elected to the Travancore-Cochin Legislative Assembly in 1952 and 1954 (she was in prison throughout the election period).

In Kerala politics

In the first Kerala ministry

The state of Kerala was constituted on 1 November 1956 (States Reorganization Act). In 1957, the Communist Party of India defeated the Indian National Congress in the first Kerala Legislative Assembly elections and, under E. M. S. Namboodiripad, formed the first non-Congress government in independent India. K. R. Gouri, member from Sherthalai, was chosen as the Revenue Minister.

Kerala Agrarian Relations Bill

As the Revenue Minister in the first Kerala ministry, K. R. Gouri piloted the Kerala Agrarian Relations Bill in December, 1957. Two major aims of the legislation introduced were the abolition of tenancy and the security for landless agriculture labourers or the hut dwellers. The bill gave tenants the right to buy their land from the owner at a price set by regulations, placed ceilings on the amount of land a family could own, established procedures for determining a fair rent, made illegal any evictions after the formation of Kerala and set up Land Tribunals in every taluk.

The Kerala Assembly passed the bill on 10 June 1959. The President refused to assent the bill and sent it back with recommendations. The new Congress-led alliance government passed the amended bill as Agrarian Relations Act in 1960 (which was declared unconstitutional by the Kerala High Court in 1963).

Split in the Party

In 1964, ideological differences over a split between the Soviets and the Chinese communists and over the response to the 1962 India-China war prompted a large faction of party members to break with the Communist Party of India and form the Communist Party of India Marxist. After the split of 1964, K. R. Gouri joined the newly formed Communist Party of India Marxist.

With the Communist Party of India Marxist

In 1967 assembly elections resulted in the formation of the Communist Party of India Marxist-led United Front government in Kerala (Second Namboodiripad ministry). K. R. Gouri, a member from Aroor, was chosen as Minister for Revenue, Social Welfare and Law. She served from March 1967 to November 1969.

From 25 January 1980 till 20 October 1981 K. R. Gouri served as Minister for Agriculture, Social Welfare, Industries, Vigilance and Justice Administration in the first E. K. Nayanar ministry.

1987 assembly elections

The Left Democratic Front projected K. R. Gouri as the Chief Minister designate in the 1987 election assembly campaign. But once the alliance emerged victorious, the party chose veteran leader E. K. Nayanar instead.

In the Second E. K. Nayanar ministry (1987–1991), K. R. Gouri served as Minister for Industries and Social Welfare, Vigilance and Administration of Justice.

With the Congress Party

K. R. Gouri was expelled from Communist Party of India Marxist in 1994. She founded Janadhipathya Samrakshana Samithi (the J. S. S.) in 1994, which later became a member of the Congress-led anti-Marxist alliance United Democratic Front.

Minister in the Congress ministries

K. R. Gouri served as the Minister of Agriculture in the third A. K. Antony ministry (May 2001 – August 2004). She also a served as the Minister of Agriculture, Soil Conservation, Soil Survey, Warehousing Corporation, Dairy Development, Milk Co-operatives, Agricultural University, Animal Husbandry and Coir in the first Chandy ministry (August 2004 – May 2006).

Later years

Gouri published her autobiography titled Athmakatha, which won the Kerala Sahitya Academy Award for best Autobiography/Biography in 2011.

K. R. Gouri died on 11 May 2021. She was cremated at the Valiya Chudukad in Alappuzha.

Positions held

Kerala State Secretariat Member, Communist Party of India Marxist.
Chairman, Committee on Government Assurances (1960–61)
Chairman, Public Accounts Committee (1986–87)
President, Kerala Karshaka Sangam (1960–84)
President, Kerala Mahila Sangam (from 1967–76)
Secretary, Kerala Mahila Sangam (1976–87)

In popular culture

Films

Lal Salam (1990), co-written by Cheriyan Kalpakavadi and directed by Venu Nagavalli.

Chief Minister K. R. Gowthami (1994), written by Salim Cherthala and directed by Babu Raj (Babu Cherthala)

References

^ "K. R. Gouri Amma". Kerala Legislative Assembly. Government of Kerala. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021.
"J S S Leader K. R. Gouri Amma, 102, No More". Mathrubhumi. 11 May 2021.
^ Radhakrishnan, S. Anil (11 May 2021). "Veteran Communist Leader K. R. Gouri Amma No More". The Hindu.
^ Krishnakumar, R. (4 July 2021). "K. R. Gouri Amma: Death of a Red Star". Frontline. The Hindu.
Premkumar, Siddharth (9 July 2020). "Gowri Amma: The Best C M Kerala Never Had". Outlook Magazine.
^ Krishnakumar, R. (2008). "The Pioneers: K.R. Gouri Amma". Frontline Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 June 2011.
Jeffrey, Robin (1992). Politics, Women and Well-Being: How Kerala Became 'a Model'. Cambridge Commonwealth Series. Palgrave MacMillan. p. 215.
"K. R. Gouri Amma". Kerala Legislative Assembly. Government of Kerala.
^ Jeffrey, Robin (1992). Politics, Women and Well-Being: How Kerala Became 'a Model'. Cambridge Commonwealth Series. Palgrave MacMillan. pp. 172–74.
Routray, Bibhu Prasad. "Communist Party of India". Encyclopædia Britannica.
"E. K. Nayanar Ministry". Kerala Legislative Assembly. Government of Kerala.
Kurian, Vinson (11 May 2021). "Gouri Amma: An Icon and Inspiration for Women in Kerala". The Hindu Businessline.
"86-year-old Kerala Minister Ready for Battle". The Times of India. 24 March 2006. Archived from the original on 10 September 2006.
"K. R. Gowri Amma". Mahilalu. Archived from the original on 4 February 2010.
"Kerala Sahitya Akademi Awards Announced". The New Indian Express. 2 August 2012.
"Pusthakaparichayam: K. R. Gouri Amma - Athmakatha". Mathrubhumi. 4 December 2019. Archived from the original on 5 December 2019.
"Thottaduthethi Vazhuthiya Mukhyamanthripadam; Thallipparanju, Purathakki Party". Malayala Manorama. 11 May 2021.
Joseph, Neethu (11 May 2021). "K R Gouri Amma Gets the Most Revered Adieu for a Communist". The News Minute.
^ Balan, Saritha S. (21 June 2019). "The Story of Gouri Amma: One of Kerala's Tallest Woman Politicians turns 100". The News Minute.
Kochukudy, Anand (23 December 2020). "Rewinding to the Times When Malayalam Cult Film 'Lal Salam' Swayed the Masses". The Wire.

External links

Left Democratic Front

Members

National Parties	Communist Party of India (Marxist)
State Parties	Communist Party of India Nationalist Congress Party Kerala Congress (M) Janata Dal (Secular)
Registered Unrecognised Parties	Kerala Congress (B) Congress (Secular) Indian National League Revolutionary Socialist Party (Leninist) National Secular Conference Loktantrik Janata Dal Janathipathiya Samrakshana Samithy Kerala Congress (Skaria Thomas) Janadhipathya Kerala Congress

Leaders

Chief Ministers of Kerala

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