First Revenue Minister of Kerala, KR Gouri Amma passes away

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala): The first Revenue Minister of Kerala and JSS leader KR Gouri Amma passed away on Tuesday at a hospital in Thiruvananthapuram where she was admitted due to age-related ailments. She was 102.

KR Gouri had recently stepped down from the state general secretary post of the Janadhipathya Samrakshana Samithi (JSS). She held the post since the formation of the party in 1994.

The party was formed after Gouri was expelled from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in 1994. She served as Revenue Minister in the first EMS Namboodiripad government and introduced the revolutionary Land Reforms Bill in 1957.

She also was a minister in the communist-led ministries in Kerala in 1957, 1967, 1980 and 1987. She also became Agriculture minister in the Congress-led government from 2001 to 2006.

She also played a key role in drafting and presenting the Women’s Commission Bill in 1987. One of the longest serving politicians in Kerala politics, Gouri entered politics at a young age and during a time when women hardly did so.

Born in born in Cherthala in the Alappuzha district, she actively participated in trade union and peasant movements and was jailed on a number of occasions. She was elected to the Travancore Council of Legislative Assembly in 1952 and 1954 with an overwhelming majority.

After forming JSS, she joined the United Democratic Front (UDF) and was minister in AK Antony and Oommen Chandy cabinet. Later, she had left the UDF.