A. M. Thomas Explained

A.M. Thomas
Birth Date:1912 6, df=yes
Birth Place:Kurikad Village, Kingdom of Cochin
Death Place:Kochi
Party:Indian National Congress
Office1:Union Minister of State for Defence,
Government of India
Term Start1:24 January 1966
Term End1:13 March 1967
Minister1:Yashwantrao Chavan, Sardar Swaran Singh
Primeminister1:Indira Gandhi
Office2:Union Minister of State of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India
Term Start2:21 November 1963
Term End2:27 May 1964
Minister2:Swaran Singh
Minister3:Swaran Singh
Minister4:Chidambaram Subramaniam
Primeminister2:Jawaharlal Nehru
Primeminister3:Gulzarilal Nanda (interim)
Term Start3:27 May 1964
Term End3:9 June 1964
Primeminister4:Lal Bahadur Shastri
Term Start4:9 June 1964
Term End4:11 January 1966
Office5:Member of Parliament for Ernakulam
Term Start5:1952
Term End5:1967
Predecessor5:Position Established
Successor5:V.V Menon
Spouse:Thankam
Children:4 sons and 5 daughters
Father:Mathai

Alunkal Mathai Thomas (4 June 1912 – 27 April 2004) was an Indian politician from Kerala and an Indian National Congress leader. He served as Minister of State (Food and Agriculture) in Fourth Nehru ministry, First Nanda ministry and Lal Bahadur Shastri ministry.

Early life

A. M. Thomas was born on June 4, 1912, in the village of Kurikad[1] in Kingdom of Cochin. His father was Mathai of the Alunkal family. He was educated at St. Thomas College, Thrissur, Maharaja's College, Ernakulam and Law College, Trivandrum. He married Thankam in 1940 and they have four sons and five daughters. Mr. Thomas was a lawyer in Supreme Court. He served as Member of Cochin Legislative Council, Member of Standing Finance Committee. Member of Committee appointed by Cochin Government to enquire into disabilities of Pali tenants and Tenancy, Select Committees, Member of Travancore-Cochin Assembly between 1949 and 1952, Member of Executive Committee of Travancore-Cochin Assembly Congress Parliamentary Party and also Congress Whip from 1949 to 1951, and Speaker of Travancore-Cochin Legislative Assembly during 1951–52 at an age of 39.

Parliamentary career

He was elected from Ernakulam[2] to Lok Sabha[3] for three consecutive terms from 1952 to 1962. He Served in a number of important committees constituted by the Parliament and was also the Chairman of the Select Committee on the Rubber Bill. He was Union Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture from 1957 to 1963.He led Indian Delegation to the United Nations Sugar Conference held in Geneva in 1958 and 1961 and Delegation to Canada and the United States in 1960 as well.

Death

Thomas died at his residence in Kochi on the morning of 27 April 2004. He was 91.[4]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Biodata. A.M Thomas. A.M Thomas Biodata. September 15, 2020. entranceindia.com.
  2. Web site: MP. A.M Thomas. A.M Thomas MP. September 15, 2020. loksabhaph.nic.in.
  3. Web site: Debate. A.M Thomas. A.M Thomas Debate. September 15, 2020. eparlib.nic.in.
  4. News: Death. A.M Thomas. A.M Thomas death. Zee News. September 15, 2020.