Anbumani Ramadoss

Early life and education

Anbumani Ramadoss was born on 9 October 1968 at Puducherry to S. Ramadoss and R. Saraswathi. His father was a physician by profession and founded the Pattali Makkal Katchi in 1989. Anbumani completed his SSLC from Montfort Boys Higher Secondary School, Yercaud in 1984 and finished his higher secondary in 1986 from St. Ann's Higher Secondary School, Tindivanam. He completed his MBBS from Madras Medical College. He worked for a year and a half as a medical practitioner at Nallalam, a small village near Tindivanam. In 2003, Anbumani did a course on macro-economics from the London School of Economics.

Political career

Ramadoss joined Pattali Makkal Katchi and became the youth wing president. In 2004, he became a member of the Rajya Sabha.

Minister of Health and Family Welfare

On 22 May 2004, Anbumani became as the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of India. At the time of induction into the Manmohan Singh's 2004 cabinet, Anbumani was the youngest Cabinet Minister in the Union Cabinet. During his tenure, the ministry set up various institutions like the Public Health Foundation of India, Department of Health Research, National Institute of Communicable Diseases, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India and the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library. As the Union Health Minister, Anbumani established the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in 2005 to provide primary health care to the women and children living in the rural parts of India. The project was lauded as 'the largest successful health scheme to be implemented anywhere in the world' by economist Jeffrey Sachs.

Under Anbumani, the ministry of health brought stringent regulations against the sale of tobacco products. Anbumani initiated a National Alcohol Policy for the first time in India and advocated for 2 October, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi to be observed as World No-Alcohol day. Anbumani along with T D Dogra, the then Director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi expanded the institution to Jhajjar district, Haryana.

Member of Parliament

He became a Member of Parliament from Dharmapuri Lok Sabha Constituency in 2014 as a part of the NDA with Bharatiya Janata Party. On 6 October 2015 Anbumani offered to quit the NDA if his decision could help find a permanent solution to the problems of the Sri Lankan Tamils.

Anbumani had the worst attendance of 15% among those from Tamil Nadu in both Houses as a Rajya Sabha MP as of December 2019.

Elections

Lok Sabha elections

Tamil Nadu Legislative elections

State assembly elections

Anbumani was declared as the Chief Ministerial Candidate from PMK for the 2016 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly elections. He contested from Pennagaram and lost by 18,446 votes.

During his campaign in Kancheepuram in 2019 he told cadres that it is only they who will be in the polling booths. He said to his party members “We will only be there. Then what? Do I need to say it out loud? You understood, right? That’s all, it’s done. Both of them have won.” The Thiruporur police in April 2019 initiated steps for registering cases against Anbumani Ramadoss for allegedly hinting at booth-capturing by his coalition parties to ensure success of their candidates in the 18 April elections.

Controversies

Arrest for hate speech

Anbumani Ramadoss was arrested by Kancheepuram police in May 2013 in connection with an alleged hate speech case filed against him, the previous year. PMK workers set at least three buses on fire, and damaged over a hundred government buses by stone pelting. The police detained about 4,000 PMK workers around the state.

FIR on promoting caste enmity

In March 2014, the Dharmapuri Police filed FIR on Anbumani Ramadoss and two others on charges of circulating CDs containing video/audio clips containing speeches by his father S Ramadoss and others on Marakkanam violence and Dharmapuri violence that could promote violence and hostility between two groups. A case against Ramdoss together with the PMK Deputy Secretary General and PMK District Secretary was registered under IPC sections relating to offenses including promoting hatred among various groups and issuing statements leading to public misbehavior and breaching Model Code of Conduct.

Awards and honours

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, described him as a "public health champion". The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, presented him with a memento of appreciation on 29 March 2014 at the inauguration of Rotary International's Polio-Free Conclave 2014 in New Delhi. He was awarded with the Luther L. Terry Award by the American Cancer Society in 2006. He received the World Health Organization Director General's Special Award for Leadership and Special Award for tobacco control in 2007. Rotary International awarded Polio Eradication Champion Award in 2007.

Personal life

Anbumani is married to Sowmiya and has three daughters. Anbumani heads a NGO Pasumai Thaayagam, which was founded in 1995 by his father S. Ramadoss. The NGO focuses on planting trees, desilting lakes and building check dams to conserve water. It also advocates for the welfare of Sri Lankan Tamils. He is currently the President of the Tamil Nadu Badminton Association.

References

References

1. (11 July 2019). "Vaiko, Anbumani elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Tamil Nadu". [[The Economic Times]].
2. "Anbumani for CM". anbumani4cm.
3. (1 September 2017). "Anbumani Ramadoss".
4. "Anbumani Ramadoss – Lok Sabha Member Profile". GOI.
5. (20 July 2008). "Follow India's rural health mission: Jeffrey Sachs". [[The Economic Times]].
6. "Professor Jeffrey Sachs lauds NRHM". The Indian News.
7. "Make Oct 2 World No Alcohol Day: Ramadoss". [[The Indian Express]].
8. (July 2017). "How Anbumani Ramadoss can become the chief minister of Tamil Nadu". [[The Times of India]].
9. (30 November 2007). "Venugopal removed, T D Dogra is new AIIMS director". [[The Times of India]].
10. (21 December 2013). "Haryana to get AIIMS extension, Rohtak PGI to be upgraded". [[The Indian express]].
11. (6 October 2015). "Ready to quit NDA if it helps Sri Lankan Tamils". [[The Hindu]].
12. (6 October 2015). "Indian MP ready to quit over Sri Lankan issue". Colombo Gazette.
13. Sivakumar, B.. (25 December 2019). "Anbumani Ramadoss has worst attendance among Tamil Nadu MPs {{!}} Chennai News - Times of India".
14. (2019-04-05). "Watch: On poll trail, Anbumani Ramadoss hints at capturing booths?".
15. Jebaraj, P. A.. (2019-04-07). "Cops to take action against Anbumani Ramadoss".
16. (2013-05-03). "Former minister Anbumani Ramadoss arrested".
17. "Anbumani Ramadoss, former Union minister, arrested for violating the law".
18. (2014-03-30). "Case against Anbumani Ramadoss for inciting caste enmity". The Hindu.
19. (2014-03-29). "Case filed against PMK candidate Anbumani". Business Standard.
20. (2014-03-30). "FIR against PMK candidate Ramadoss for inciting caste violence".
21. (5 February 2009). "UN Secretary General lauds Dr. Ramadoss as a Public Health champion". Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
22. "The President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee presented the memento of appreciation". Sarkari Mirror.
23. "2006 Luther L. Terry Award Winners".
24. "Ramadoss to receive Luther L. Terry Award".
25. "International Recognition For India's Tobacco Control Efforts".
26. (2007-06-29). "Award for Anbumani". [[The Hindu]].
27. "Global Polio Eradication Initiative".
28. (1 October 2015). "Pasumai Thayagam Statements to UNHRC". Ilankai Tamil Sangam.
29. "Tamil Nadu Badminton Association". TNBA.