Ezhilan Naganathan is an Indian medical practitioner, social activist and politician from the

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; DMK) is a political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu where it is currently the ruling party having a comfortable majority without coalition support and the union territory of Puducherry where it is curre ...

(DMK). Since May 2021, he has been serving as a member of the

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has a strength of 234 members of whom are democratically elected using the First-past-the-post voting, First-past-the-post system. The pres ...

from

Thousand Lights Thousand Lights is a constituency of the legislative assembly of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Its State Assembly Constituency number is 20. It forms a part of the Chennai Central Lok Sabha constituency for national elections to the Parli ...

constituency.

Early life

Ezhilan was born to parents with strong Dravidian ideologies, Professor Dr. M. Naganathan and Professor Dr. Santhi Naganathan. Professor M. Naganathan was a close associate of Ex-Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu

M Karunanidhi Muthuvel Karunanidhi (3 June 1924 – 7 August 2018) was an Indian writer and politician who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for almost two decades over five terms between 1969 and 2011. He was popularly referred to as Kalaignar (Art ...

for over 40 years and served as the Vice-Chairman of Tamil Nadu State Planning Commission from 2006-2011. Dr. Ezhilan was entrusted with the responsibility of complete medical care of Kalaignar for nearly a decade. Ezhilan graduated from

Don Bosco Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Chennai Don Bosco Matriculation Higher Secondary School is located in Egmore, Chennai. The school was established in July 1958 with 140 students and Fr. Mallon as the principal, and has since grown to over 5000 students. The school is affiliated to mat ...

. He was a serious student and talented young dancer. Ezhilan completed his under-graduate and post-graduate studies in Medicine from Madras Medical College (MMC). During his time at MMC, he was decorated with the B Bruan Medical Award and Edward Norraday Award for academic excellence in the field of medicine. He was a gold medalist in his class for medicine in the year 2007. Ezhilan was force behind protests that fought for an increase in the minimum pay of post-graduate students. Ezhilan was instrumental in establishing an exclusive poison control centre in MMC, that contributes to saving thousands of lives of farmers from snakes, scorpions, rats and pesticides across Tamil Nadu.

Career

Ezhilan has run a private clinic in

Teynampet Teynampet, also Teynampettai, is one of the busiest commercial localities in the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Part of the city's central business district, it is surrounded by Gopalapuram in the north, Mylapore in the east, Alwarpet in t ...

, Chennai since the 2000s to provide free medical assistance for the poor. served at CSI Kalyani Mission Hospital, Chennai for 10 years. He was a consulting physician at Aswenee Hospital at Poes Garden, Chennai. He also consults at Kauvery Hospital, Alwarpet Chennai. He has mentored 40 post-graduate students who became practising professionals across India.

Activist

He is the founder of NGO MAX Medical Foundation. It is committed to educating Tamil Nadu youth in imparting the value of scientific temperament and eradicating superstitions. His organization is in the forefront of aiding the poor. He conducts statewide health camps and first aid centres. He is a

Rotarian Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, prof ...

and won two district awards as the Director of Public Health for his work among

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

-affected children and transgender communities. He is a founder of Illaignar Iyamkkam youth organization - a NGO that works for education and empowerment of the youth of Tamil Nadu about science, social justice and equality.

Politics

Ezhilan and family are Periarists. They believe in Dravidan ideologies and follow the path of

Arignar Anna Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai (15 September 1909 – 3 February 1969), popularly known as Anna also known as Arignar Anna or Perarignar Anna (''Anna, the scholar'' or ''Elder Brother''), was an Indian Tamil politician who served as the fo ...

and Thandhai Periyar on secularism and social justice. Ezhilan joined

(DMK) party to run for Tamil Nadu State Assembly Elections 2021 from Thousand Lights Constituency, Chennai. Ezhilan advocates for the importance of social justice, scientific temperament, secularism and state autonomy across Tamil Nadu. He opposed exclusionary policies such as NEET, NEP, NRC, CAA through statewide protest, public gatherings, meetings and TV shows. He opposed all the majoritarian policies of the central and state government during 2016-2021. He has been a guest speaker and participated in many debates and interviews in Regional and National television in India, on topics surrounding social justice, state government’s policies on inclusion and education. DMK was responsible for bringing NEET to Tamil Nadu. Ezhilan is a familiar face, expressed in ''TheNewsminute'' article. His causes include the Sri Lankan Tamil Independence movement and the Kudankulam nuclear power plant protests.

Electoral performance

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naganathan, Ezhilan Tamil Nadu MLAs 2021–2026 Indian politicians People from Chennai Living people 1979 births