Arumugam Arulpiragasam, OBE (also spelt Arulpragasam) (c1890 –1975) was a leading

Ceylonese Sri Lankan or Ceylonese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Sri Lanka * A person from Sri Lanka, see Demographics of Sri Lanka ** Sinhalese people, the ethnic majority ** Sri Lankan Tamils, an ethnic minority ** Sri L ...

civil servant and Commissioner of Elections.

Early life

Arulpiragasam was born around 1890. He was the son of Arumugam, a schoolmaster from Valveddi in northern British Ceylon. He was educated at

Udupiddy American Mission College Udupiddy American Mission College ( ta, உடுப்பிட்டி அமெரிக்கன் மிஷன் கல்லூரி ''Uṭuppiṭṭi Amerikkaṉ Micaṉ Kallūri'') is a national school in Udupiddy, Sri Lanka. It w ...

Jaffna College __NOTOC__ Jaffna College is a Education in Sri Lanka#Private schools, private school in Vaddukoddai, Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1871 as a successor to the Batticotta Seminary which had been established by American missionaries. History In 18 ...

Vaddukoddai Vaddukoddai (also spelt Vattukkottai, Vatukotai, Vattukotai) ( ta, வட்டுக்கோட்டை, si, වඩුකෝඩයි) is small but important town in the minority Sri Lankan Tamil dominated Jaffna peninsula of Sri Lanka. I ...

. Arulpiragasam married Sathyabaladevi, daughter of Kandiah from Udupiddy. They had three sons (Pulendran, Thavendran and Balendran) and four daughters (Saraswathi, Savitri, Thilakavathy and Punithavathy).

Career

Arulpiragasam joined the Government Clerical Service in May 1920 and served till September 1933, during which time he qualified as an advocate. In October 1933, he became a legal and deeds clerk to the Land Commissioner from October 1935, deeds assistant to the Land Commissioner and served as Assistant Land Commissioner from June 1941 to September 1942. He was appointed a class III officer of the Ceylon Civil Service in October 1942 and was attached to the General Treasury and was appointed again as Assistant Land Commissioner from December 1942 to May 1943. Promoted to class II after completing his first and second regulation exams, he served as the Office Assistant, Colombo

Kachcheri A kachcheri or district secretariat is the principal government department that administrates a district in Sri Lanka. Each of the 25 districts has a kachcheri. The main tasks of the District Secretariat involve coordinating communications and a ...

; Supervisor, Food Control Branch; Additional Assistant Government Agent, Colombo;

Assistant Government Agent A Government Agent (GA) or a District Secretary is a Sri Lankan civil servant of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service appointed by the central government to govern a certain district of the country. The GA is the administrative head of public servic ...

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...

Puttalam Puttalam ( si, පුත්තලම, translit=Puttalama; ta, புத்தளம், translit=Puttaḷam) is the largest town in Puttalam District, North Western Province, Sri Lanka. Puttalam is the administrative capital of the Puttalam Di ...

and

Kurunegala Kurunegala ( si, කුරුණෑගල, ta, குருணாகல்) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of the North Western Province and the Kurunegala District. Kurunegala was an ancient royal capital for 50 years, fr ...

. Joint Commissioner of the Colombo Plan Exhibition. He went on to serve in numerous senior civil servant positions including Registrar General (1952), Government Agent, North-Western Province and Commissioner of Elections (1955–57). He also held a senior position at Lake House Newspapers. Arulpiragasam was made a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the

1953 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1953 for the United Kingdom were announced on 30 December 1952, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 1953. This was the first New Year Honours since the accession of Queen Elizabeth II. The ''Honours list'' ...

. He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1954 Birthday Honours. Arulpiragasam died in 1975.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arulpiragasam, A. 1890s births 1975 deaths Alumni of Jaffna College Ceylonese advocates Ceylonese Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Northern Province, Sri Lanka People from British Ceylon Sri Lankan Tamil civil servants Sri Lankan Tamil lawyers