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Kanthiah Vaithianathan

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Senator
Sir Kanthiah Vaithianathan
CBE
Minister of Housing and Social Services
In office
1952–1956
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs and Defence
In office
1947–1952
Personal details
Born1896
Died1965

Sir Kanthiah Vaithianathan CBE (1896–1965) (also spelt Vaidyanathan) was a Ceylonese civil servant, politician, Member of the Senate and Minister of Housing and Social Services.

Civil service career

Having graduated with a BSc from the University of London, he joined the Ceylon Civil Service and served as a cadet in the Ratnapura Kachcheri in 1925.[1] He went on to serve as the Information Officer of the Ceylon Government during World War 2 in the early 1940s[2] and from 1943 he was served as the Commissioner for Food (Supplies) of the Deptpartment of Ceylon Government Supplies in New Delhi, India.[3] In 1947, he became the first Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of External Affairs and Defence of independent Ceylon.

Political career

In 1952, Vaithianathan resigned from the post of Permanent Secretary, to be appointed by the Governor General to the Senate of Ceylon[4] and appointed Minister of Housing and Social Services in the cabinet of the newly appointed Prime Minister Sir John Kotelawala.[5][6] In 1953, he was also given the Industries portfolio following the resignation of G. G. Ponnambalam, Minister of Industries and Fisheries.[6]

Vaithianathan contested the Mannar constituency in the 1956 general election as an Independent, and lost to Federal Party candidate V. A. Alegacone, by polling only 4,857 votes to Alegacone's 6,726 and C. Sittampalam's 1,078.[7]

Social service

He was the President of the Rotary Club of Colombo, patron of the Colombo Tamil Sangam and one of the founders of the Hindu Educational Society which established the Colombo Hindu College.[8] He was elcted Vice President of the Royal Asiatic Society (Ceylon) Branch in 1952.[9]

Honors

Vaithianathan, was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1949 New Year Honours and knighted as a Knight Bachelor in the 1950 Birthday Honours.

Family

He was married to Lady Vaithianathan. His son Mahen Vaithianathan was one of the first diplomats of the Ceylon Overseas Service.[10] He lived at "Senthil", Charles Place, Colombo 3.

References

  1. ^ 1925 Ferguson's Ceylon Directory. Ferguson's Directory. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  2. ^ 1941 Ferguson's Ceylon Directory. Ferguson's Directory. p. 278. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  3. ^ 1946 Ferguson's Ceylon Directory. Ferguson's Directory.
  4. ^ 1953 Fergusons Ceylon Directory (PDF). Fergusons Directory.
  5. ^ "FEATURESSir John takes over, cabinet meeting at N'Eliya and the EL Senanayake election case". The Island. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  6. ^ a b Rajasingham, K. T. "Chapter 15: Turbulence in any language". SRI LANKA: THE UNTOLD STORY. Archived from the original on 8 February 2002.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1956" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015.
  8. ^ Neelakandan, Kandiah. "Hindu College, Colombo : Temple of learning Gift out of a challenge accepted with fortitude". Daily News. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  9. ^ "ABSTRACT OF PROCEEDINGS". The Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland. 3 (New Series): 90–98. 1953. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  10. ^ Boyle, Richard (2 May 1999). "He went against the flow". Sunday Times (Sri Lanka).
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