The Tamil Nadu government will construct a memorial hall to mark the birth centenary of Dalit leader and former president of Tamil Nadu Congress Committee L. Elaya Perumal at his home town in Chidambaram.
He worked for the rights of Scheduled Caste community, was agitated on noticing ‘two pot system’ even during his school days and acted against it.
Between 1940 and 1970, Elayaperumal spearheaded several protests on various social issues in the erstwhile South Arcot and Thanjavur districts.
He joined the Congress and was elected to the Lok Sabha from Cuddalore Parliamentary constituency at the age of 27.
He was MP thrice and also represented Egmore Assembly constituency.
He headed the Committee on Untouchability, Economic and Educational Development of the Scheduled Castes in 1965.
Former CM Karunanidhi had conferred the first ‘Annal Ambedkar Award’ on Elayaperumal in 1998.