Tiruvengimalai Sesha Sundara Rajan (1880–1953) was an Indian medical doctor, politician and freedom-fighter who served the Minister of Public Health and Religious Endowments in the Madras Presidency from 1937 to 1939. Rajan was born in

Srirangam Srirangam, is a neighbourhood in the city of Tiruchirappalli in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. A river island, Srirangam is bounded by the Kaveri River on one side and its distributary Kollidam on the other side. Considered as the first amon ...

Trichinopoly Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with bein ...

district and studied medicine at Royapuram Medical School, Madras and England. He practised as a doctor in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

and England and obtained his M.R.C.S. degree in 1911. In 1923, he set up his own clinic. Rajan entered the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

in 1919 and joined the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

. He participated in the agitations against the

Rowlatt Act The Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act of 1919, popularly known as the Rowlatt Act, was a law that applied in British India. It was a legislative council act passed by the Imperial Legislative Council in Delhi on 18 March 1919, indefinitel ...

and in the

Vedaranyam Salt Satyagraha The Vedaranyam March (also called the Vedaranyam Satyagraha) was a framework of the nonviolent civil disobedience movement in British India. Modeled on the lines of Dandi March, which was led by Mahatma Gandhi on the western coast of India the ...

. He served as the President of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee and as the Member of the

Imperial Legislative Council of India The Imperial Legislative Council (ILC) was the legislature of the British Raj from 1861 to 1947. It was established under the Charter Act of 1853 by providing for the addition of 6 additional members to the Governor General Council for legislativ ...

from 1934 to 1936. From 1937 to 1939, he served as the Minister of Public Health in the Madras provincial government.

Early life

Sundararajan was born in Nagapattinam 1880. He had his early education from St. Joseph's College,

and graduated in medicine from Royapuram Medical School, Madras. Following his graduation, Rajan moved to Burma and set up practice in

Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

. In 1907, Rajan sailed to England to pursue his higher studies. He obtained his M.R.C.S. degree in 1911 and worked in the

Middlesex Hospital Middlesex Hospital was a teaching hospital located in the Fitzrovia area of London, England. First opened as the Middlesex Infirmary in 1745 on Windmill Street, it was moved in 1757 to Mortimer Street where it remained until it was finally clos ...

. He was an acclaimed surgeon and physician. Rajan returned to Burma soon after and practised till 1914, before returning to India. In 1923, he set up his own clinic called "Rajan Clinic".

In the Indian independence movement

During his days in England, Rajan was a close associate of

V. D. Savarkar Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (), Marathi pronunciation: �inaːjək saːʋəɾkəɾ also commonly known as Veer Savarkar (28 May 1883 – 26 February 1966), was an Indian politician, activist, and writer. Savarkar developed the Hindu nationali ...

and

V. V. S. Aiyar Varahaneri Venkatesa Subramaniam Aiyar (2 April 1881 – 3 June 1925), also known as V. V. S. Aiyar, was an Indian revolutionary from Tamil Nadu who fought against British colonial rule in India. His contemporaries include Subramanya Bhar ...

and was a member of the

India House India House was a student residence that existed between 1905 and 1910 at Cromwell Avenue in Highgate, North London. With the patronage of lawyer Shyamji Krishna Varma, it was opened to promote nationalist views among Indian students in Britai ...

. However, in May 1910, Rajan had a quarrel with Aiyar. On his return to India in 1914, he met

Rajagopalachari Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (10 December 1878 – 25 December 1972), popularly known as Rajaji or C.R., also known as Mootharignar Rajaji (Rajaji'', the Scholar Emeritus''), was an Indian statesman, writer, lawyer, and independence activis ...

and joined the

. He participated in the agitations against the

and was jailed for a year. He also coordinated and organised the activities of the Khilafat Committee from 1920 to 1922 along with T. V. Swaminatha Sastri. Rajan served in a number of party posts in the Indian National Congress over the years. He served as the General Secretary of the Congress and as the President, and later, Secretary of the

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) is the wing of Indian National Congress serving in Tamil Nadu. The current president is K.S. Alagari. Social policy of the TNCC is officially based upon the Gandhian principle of Sarvodaya (upliftment of all ...

. He also served as the President of the Civil, Social and Welfare League of Trichinopoly. Rajan participated in the Vedaranyam Salt Satyagraha organised by Rajaji and suffered imprisonment. He was released in 1931 after having been in prison for eighteen months. From 1932 to 1935, Rajan served as the President of the Tamil Nadu branch of the

Harijan Sevak Sangh Harijan Sevak Sangh is a non-profit organisation founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1932 to eradicate untouchability in India, working for Harijan or Dalit people and upliftment of Depressed Class of India. It is headquartered at Kingsway Camp in D ...

. In 1934, Rajan was elected to the Imperial Legislative Council of India and served till 1936, when he resigned owing to differences of opinion. Rajan participated in the 1937 Madras provincial elections and was elected to the Madras Legislative Council. He took the portfolios of public health and religious endowments in the Rajaji cabinet.

Later years and death

In 1946, when the Congress was elected to power once again in Madras Presidency and

Tanguturi Prakasam Tanguturi Prakasam Panthulu (23 August 1872 – 20 May 1957) was an Indian jurist, political leader, social reformer, and anti-colonial nationalist who served as the chief minister of the Madras Presidency. Tanguturi subsequently became the fi ...

became Premier, Rajan was appointed Minister of Food and Public Health. In 1948, Dr. T. S. S. Rajan attended the Thiruvallur Taluk Agricultural Conference and unveiled the portrait of Sri.

C. Rajagopalachari Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (10 December 1878 – 25 December 1972), popularly known as Rajaji or C.R., also known as Mootharignar Rajaji (Rajaji'', the Scholar Emeritus''), was an Indian statesman, writer, lawyer, and independence activis ...

(Rajaji). He served as minister till 1951. In 1953, Rajan had an operation for

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these typical symptoms. Severe complications of a rup ...

. Shortly after the operation, he died on 14 December 1953 at the age of 73.

Works

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Notes

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rajan, T. S. S. Tamil-language writers 1880 births 1953 deaths Burmese Hindus Indian National Congress politicians from Tamil Nadu Burmese people of Indian descent Tamil Nadu ministers Indian Vaishnavites Members of the Imperial Legislative Council of India Politicians from Tiruchirappalli Indian independence activists from Tamil Nadu Members of the Central Legislative Assembly of India St Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli alumni Medical doctors in British India