Lakshmi N. Menon (29 March 1899 – 30 November 1994) was an Indian
freedom fighter and politician. She was Minister of State from 1962 to 1966.
As delegate she held a speech at the
United Nations General Assembly in December 1948 at the adotion of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Early life
Born in
Trivandrum, she was the child of Rama Varma Thampan and Madhavikutty Amma. In 1930, she married Professor V. K. Nandan Menon, who later became vice-chancellor of the
University of Travancore (1950–1951) and of
Patna University, as well as director for the
Indian Institute of Public Administration
The Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) was established in 1954 and is research and training organization under the Ministry of Personnel of the Government of India
The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), k ...
.
Career
She was a Rajya Sabha member from 1952 to 1966.
[''Rajya Sabha members biographical sketches 1952 – 2003''. rajyasabha.nic.in.] She served in the Ministry of External Affairs as parliamentary secretary from 1952 to 1957, as deputy minister from 1957 to 1962 and as Minister of State to 1966.
[''Women Members of the Rajya Sabha''. Rajya Sabha Secretariat. New Delhi, 2003.] Retiring from political service in 1967, she turned to social work and also to writing, authoring among other things a book on Indian women for the
Oxford Pamphlets on Indian Affairs series, published by
Oxford University Press. She helped to found the
Federation of University Women Graduate Women International (GWI), originally named the International Federation of University Women (IFUW), is an international organisation for women university graduates. IFUW was founded in 1919 following the First World War by both British and ...
in India.
In recognition of her services, she was awarded the
Padma Bhushan in 1957 and she was the second
Malayali to receive the award.
Menon dedicated her active life after politics for the cause of the nation. She served the All India Women's Conference as president and patron for many years. She was the vice president of All India Prohibition Council along with
Morarji Desai. In 1988, she along with
A. P. Udhayabhanu
A. P. Udayabhanu (1 October 1915 – 15 December 1999) was an Indian freedom fighter, politician, journalist, writer, and social activist from the state of Kerala.
Udayabhanu was a leader of the Indian National Congress and served as the pre ...
and Johnson J. Edayaranmula established Alcohol & Drug Information Centre (ADIC)-India and served as its president till her death. She also served as president of the All India Committee for the Eradication of Illiteracy Among Women and as chairman of the
Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust
The Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust is an organisation dedicated to the development of women and children in rural India. It was founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1945 in dedication to his deceased wife Kasturba Gandhi. It has its headquarters ...
from 1972 to 1985.
Lakshmi Menon's tenure as Minister of State in
Nehru Government was instrumental in smoothing the bureaucratic procedure involved in setting up
Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station at Trivandrum.
Bibliography
*
References
External links
Biographical details from the blog ''Maddy's Ramblings'' (2016) Personal Reminiscences of great niece (2021)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Menon, Lakshmi N.
1899 births
1994 deaths
Malayali politicians
Politicians from Thiruvananthapuram
Graduate Women International people
Union deputy ministers of India
Union ministers of state of India
Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in public affairs
Rajya Sabha members from Bihar
Malayalam-language writers
Indian National Congress politicians from Kerala
Women in Kerala politics
20th-century Indian women politicians
20th-century Indian politicians
Women union ministers of state of India
Women members of the Rajya Sabha