Fond memories of ‘Bonus Sanjeevayya’
(Dasari Sreenivasulu IAS (rtd) and a truste
of Damodaram Sanjeevayya Memorial Trust, recalls a few inspiring anccdots in
the life of Damodaram Sanjeevayya, the first ever Dalit Chief Minister of Independent
India, on his 97th Birth anniversary today i.e 14-02-2018)
Will my son get any hike in salary.
We need more money to run our house,Sanjevayya’s mother Sunkulamma asked when
her son had become the CM
Damodaram Sanjeevayya, the first
dalit chief minister of Andrapradesh, was a brilliant political strategist.
Though he hailed from a poor family from Peddapadu village in Kurnool district,
he had the opportunity to work closely with the first prime minister Jawaharlal
Nehru at the national level. He was a brilliant student of Municipal High
School. During his school days, although he had nothing but jowar roti and
chilli powder for launch, he never let such struggles sap his spirit. He
excelled in education which gave him the edge over others. He took a bachelors
degree in law from Madras Law College.
Even as a student, he actively
participated in the Indian Freedom Movement. He was Minister for Labour and
Employment under Lal Bahadur Shastri between June 9, 1964 and January 23, 1966.
Once Jawaharlal Nehru, had received a
compliant from state parley leaders against Sanjeevayya, the then chief
minister of Andrapradesh, alleging that he had amassed wealth through illegal
means. Then prime minister sent Parmar, Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, to
the state to find out the facts in regard to the allegations against the Chief
Minister.
Parmar came to Hyderabad and went to
Peddapadu village. He took the assistance of a young Congress leader to take
him to the house of chief minister In the village.
After a long drive, the car reached
the village and it stopped in front of a
young Congress leader, “I asked
you to take me to the chief minister’s house?”
The young leader replied, “Sir, this is the house of the Chief
Minister”.
Parmar was taken aback to see
Sunkulamma, mother of the chief minister, cooking in that small hut and asked
the driver to drive back to Hyderabad. “There is no need further enquiry on the
great leader”, Parmar remarked then. That Sanjeevayya ‘s bank balance at the
time of his death was Rs 17,000 and an old fiat car.
Sunkulamma, Sanjeevayya’s mother that
her son had become the Chief Minister. She asked innocently, “Will my son get
any hike in salary. We need more money to run our house.”
“Once Sanjeevayya promised a
prominent leader to come to his house to have a launch. At the same time he
told his officer that he will have lunch at the social welfare hostel in the
same village. Then, the leader asked Sanjeevayya,” You assured me to come to my
house, but now you are saying that you will lunch in a hostel? Sanjeevayya
replied, “Send food made for me to the hostel and I will take it amidst the
hostel children,” such was the great personality of Sanjeevayya, Srinivasulu
said.
Sanjeevayya had the distinction of
being among the first Dalits to have shouldered such high responsibilities in
the cause of service to the Nation. He was known for his administrative ability
and for his uprightness of charcter.
He said that the great leader wrote a
book on labour problems and industrial development in India, in 1970 published by
Oxford and IBH Publishing & Co, New Delhi.
“People used to all call Sanjeevayya
as ‘Bonus Sanjeevayya’ those days, because he broght bonud bill to the workers
and helped in passing the bill in Parliament as Union Minister for Labour in
Lal Bahadur Shasthri’s cabinet,” Dasari recalled.
