Coomarasamy Balasingham (10 March 1917 – 15 July 2001) was a leading Ceylon Tamil civil servant.

Early life

Balasingham was born on 10 March 1917. He was the son of V. Coomaraswamy, a

proctor Proctor (a variant of ''procurator'') is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The title is used in England and some other English-speaking countries in three principal contexts: * In law, a proctor is a historical class of lawye ...

and

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

scholar from Tellippalai. He was educated at Kollankaladdy Tamil School, Mahajana College, Tellippalai and Jaffna Hindu College. He gained Honours and a Distinction in Tamil when he sat the Cambridge Junior Examination. He then passed the Cambridge Senior Exam. After school he joined the Ceylon University College from where he graduated in 1937 with a BA degree English, Tamil and Philosophy. He was too young to join the civil service so he enrolled at the Ceylon Law College, qualifying as an advocate of the Supreme Court in 1942. Balasingham married Sethu, a daughter of Gate Mudaliyar

Naganather Canaganayagam Gate Mudaliyar Naganather Canaganayagam, CBE, JP, FREconS (27 May 1892 - 1 January 1967) was a Ceylonese banker, planter and local politician, who served as the first Tamil Mayor of Kandy in 1942. Suriyakumara Nichinga Senathiraja Ambalavane ...

. They had two sons (Balagangeyan and Padmanabhan) and a daughter (Thillaisiva).

Career

Balasingham joined the

Ceylon Civil Service The Ceylon Civil Service, popularly known by its acronym CCS, was the premier civil service of the Government of Ceylon under British colonial rule and in the immediate post-independence period. Established in 1833, it functioned as part of the ...

in 1940 after passing the Civil Service Exam in 1939. He held several positions and served in a number of places. He was an Additional Magistrate at Matara and Puttalam; Assistant Telegraph Censor during World War II; Office Assistant in Jaffna and Kandy; Additional Assistant Government Agent in

Horana Horana ( si, හොරණ, , ta, ஹொரணை) is a town in Kalutara District, in the Western Province of Sri Lanka. It is on the A8 highway between Panadura and Ratnapura, away from Ratnapura and away from Panadura. Horana is connected wi ...

; Assistant Government Agent in Kalutara; Deputy Controller of Labour in Hatton and Colombo; and Assistant Director of Land Development in

Batticaloa Batticaloa ( ta, மட்டக்களப்பு, ''Maṭṭakkaḷappu''; si, මඩකලපුව, ''Maḍakalapuwa'') is a major city in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, and its former capital. It is the administrative capital of the B ...

. He became Controller of Supply, Cadre and Finance in the Treasury in 1958 and Deputy Secretary to the Treasury in 1961. Balasingham was

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day ...

at the Ministry of Health from 1964 to 1970.

Later life

Balasingham was chairman of the committee revising the Government Financial Regulations and a member of the Salaries Review Committee. He moved to the USA in 1984. He died on 15 July 2001 in Connecticut.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balasingham, C. 1917 births 2001 deaths Alumni of Ceylon Law College Alumni of Jaffna Hindu College Alumni of Mahajana College, Tellippalai Alumni of the Ceylon University College American people of Sri Lankan Tamil descent Ceylonese advocates People from Northern Province, Sri Lanka Permanent secretaries of Sri Lanka Sri Lankan Tamil people Sri Lankan civil servants Sri Lankan lawyers Sri Lankan emigrants to the United States