K. Santhanam

Who was K. Santhanam?

Kasturiranga Santhanam, also known as Kumitithadai Santhanam, was an Indian politician. He was a conservative Iyengar from Tamil Nadu and acquired the appellation 'Pandit' for his erudition.

Santhanam obtained a Master of Arts degree in mathematics from the University of Madras and later a law degree from the Law College of Madras, now known as Chennai. He joined the Indian National Congress and participated in the Indian Independence Movement at an young age and was imprisoned once for that. He was a follower of Mahatma Gandhi and his wife died while at the Gandhi Ashram, while he was in jail. From 1937 to 1942, he was a member of the Imperial Legislative Assembly, and from 1946 was a member of the Indian Constituent Assembly, from 1948 serving as Union Minister for Railways and Transport in Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet. He stood as a Congress candidate for the House of the People from Mayuram in Tanjore district, but lost to a Communist. In February 1952, he was appointed as the Governor of Vindhya Pradesh.

In 1962, Lal Bahadur Sastri appointed Santhanam to preside over the corruption committee. Because of its thorough investigative work and recommendations, the Committee earned a reputation as Santhanam's Committee on Corruption. In his 1976 'Code of Conduct for persons in power, authority or positions of trust in our country', he explicitly included ministers and members of Parliament and state legislatures. There should be no use of position for personal or family advantage, read his code; no actions motivated by considerations of party, religion, caste, or community; no unofficial dealings with businessmen or hospitality or gifts accepted from them or other private persons.