Kamlendumati Shah Memoir

Surendra Sajwan

On the day 29 October 1959, Rajmata Kamlendumati Shah the first Member of Parliament (MP) of Tehri constituency received a presidential award (Padma Bhushan) for her extraordinary services. She won the election as an independent candidate against the stalwart leader of congress Thakur Kishan Singh. During the election campaign most of the places she travelled on a horse ride. She was a very soft-spoken spiritual lady knowing five foreign languages and was very close to Dr. Radhakrishnan. She never publicizes her higher national award.

In her old age, she founded a family charitable trust as a chairperson. Maharaja Manvendra Shah (her stepson), C. P. Singh principal of Col. Brown school, Lt. Gen (Rtd) Jasbir Singh and Ex Garhwal Commissioner S. S. Pangti were among the trustees. Now only Shri Pangti is alive. I pray for his long life. She established a Raj Mata Girls Inter-college and women hostel in Tehri which was inaugurated by ex-president Dr. Radhakrishnan in July 1961. She spoke much about women empowerment and placed a private bill, Women’s and children’s institution (Licensing) bill 1954 and immoral traffic in women bill, 1955. In her parliamentary speeches, she spoke about the backwardness of her consistency especially road transportation and education.

Once when I reminded her of the 1930 massacre of Talwari, the cruel death of Shri Dev Suman and the brutal Kirtinagar firing. She lamented on these incidents and told them all are unfortunate. She died on 17 July 1999 at her residence at Kalidas Road Dehradun. She has left very rare things in her office especially many manuscripts which needed to be printed.