Periannan Pillai Devaraj (born 21 February 1929) is a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

n politician and former minister of state.

Early life

Devaraj was born on 21 February 1929. He was educated at St. Sylvester's College, Kandy. He has a

B.Sc. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in economics.

Career

Devaraj was director of the Congress Labour Foundation, part of the

Ceylon Workers' Congress The Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) ( ta, இலங்கை தொழிலாளர் காங்கிரஸ், translit=Ilaṅkai Toḻilāḷar Kāṅkiras; si, ලංකා කම්කරු කොංග්‍රසය ''Lanka Kamkaru ...

(CWC) and was an advisor to CWC leader Savumiamoorthy Thondaman. He was later vice president of the CWC. Devaraj was appointed as one of the CWC/ UNP alliance's

National List The National List ( he, רשימה ממלכתית, ''Reshima Mamlakhtit''), sometimes translated as the State List, was a political party in Israel. Despite being founded by David Ben-Gurion, one of the fathers of the Israeli left, the party is ...

MP in the

Sri Lankan Parliament The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ''Shri Lanka Parlimenthuwa'', Tamil: இலங்கை நாடாளுமன்றம் ''Ila� ...

following the 1989 parliamentary election. He was appointed Minister of State for Hindu Religious and Cultural Affairs on 18 February 1989. He contested the 1994 parliamentary election as one of the CWC/UNP alliance's candidates in

Colombo District Colombo District ( si, කොළඹ දිස්ත්‍රික්කය ''kol̠am̆ba distrikkaya''; ta, கொழும்பு மாவட்டம் ''Koḻumpu Māvaṭṭam'') is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level ...

but failed to get elected. However, he re-entered Parliament following the assassination of Ossie Abeygunasekera and

Weerasinghe Mallimarachchi Member of Parliament from 1977 to 1994 Deputy Mayor Colombo 1970-1971 Member Colombo Municipal Council 1962-1977 District Minister of Colombo 1978-1988 Minister of Petroleum Services 1988-1989 State Minister of Industries 1989-1990 Weerasinghe Mall ...

on 24 October 1994. Following the death of Thondaman in 1999 Devaraj tried unsuccessful to gain the leadership of the CWC from Thondaman's grandson

Arumugam Thondaman Savumiamoorthy Arumugam Ramanathan Thondaman (29 May 1964 – 26 May 2020) was a Sri Lankan politician who served as a Cabinet Minister. He was the grandson of prominent unionist Saumyamoorthi Thondaman. He was the leader of the Ceylon Workers ...

. Devaraj was elected chairman of the

Global Organization for People of Indian Origin Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) is an international network of Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin, people of Indian origin (PIO). History GOPIO was founded at the First Global Convention of People of Indian Origi ...

(GOPIO) in 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devaraj, P. P. 1929 births Alumni of St. Sylvester's College Ceylon Workers' Congress politicians Tamil politicians Living people Members of the 10th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 11th Parliament of Sri Lanka Ministers of state of Sri Lanka Sri Lankan Hindus Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka