About this stamp
Puratchi Thalaivar
India Post issued this ₹15 stamp on 17 January 2017, his birth centenary, for Dr M. G. Ramachandran (1917–1987), the film star who became Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Known as “Puratchi Thalaivar”, the Revolutionary Leader, he was born on 17 January 1917 in Kandy, Sri Lanka, to M. Gopala Krishna Menon and Sathyabama. After his film debut in 1940 he had a career of more than 35 years in Tamil cinema.
From Films to Fort St George
He met C. N. Annadurai in 1952 and came to regard him as his mentor; through him he entered politics and joined the DMK, and in 1967 he was elected to the Assembly from Parangimalai. In 1972 he founded the Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (ADMK) and in 1977 became Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, the first popular film actor to lead an Indian state. He won three terms in a row, never losing an election, until his death on 24 December 1987.
His Legacy
His government expanded the free meal scheme in schools into the “Puratchi Thalaivar Dr MGR Nutritious Meal Programme”, which the Supreme Court commended and asked to be followed across the country. He founded the Tamil University, Mother Teresa Women’s University and Bharathidasan University and hosted the fifth World Tamil Conference. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna.
The stamp was designed by Nenu Gupta; Security Printing Press, Hyderabad printed 407,190.
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