MGR – Tamizhin Thangamagan (The Golden Son of Tamil)
Introduction
This essay is an attempt to sketch a brief biographic study on Dr. Marudhur Gopalan Ramachandran (MGR), one of the most influential political veterans in south India and often referred by many as the “Golden Son” of the ‘Dravida Iyakam’. MG Ramachandran was born on Jan 17th 1917 in Sri Lanka. He started his career as an actor in 1936. Acting was his first love and he continued to act for a short time even after he became a politician. Even some scenes and dialogues of his final few films were made in order to further his political interest among the people of Tamil Nadu.
Political career Dr. MGR’s initial political career started with the Congress in the year 1953. He then…show more content… It was even noted that Rajiv Gandhi had a very close relationship with MGR. It was even criticized that it was Rajiv Gandhi’s influence, which got MGR the Bharat Ratna award soon after his death. MGR had this rapport with the Congress as he firmly believed that only Congress could provide a good, safe and a stable government in India. It can be pointed out that he & his party were one of the strongest allies for congress (Indira Gandhi) at the center.
He was also a philanthropist offering his aid to flood, famine, war, and cyclone victims. Also he was the first to come forward and donate Rs. 75,000 towards the war fund in 1962. This also can be looked at from a point of view, where he had already built a good rapport with the central government even during the times of Nehru, as an individual.
Popular schemes MGR was well known as the messiah of the poor (very much similar to India Gandhi). He was called ‘Yezhai Pagalan’ and ‘Makkal Thilakam’, which translates to ‘poor man’s friend’ and ‘foremost among people’ respectively. Thus his schemes during his reign were mostly targeted towards the welfare of poor people of Tamil Nadu. Some examples of his schemes are
• MGR's Nutritious Meal Scheme (renamed from Mid-Day-Meal scheme which was introduced by Kamaraj)
• Krishna Water