Kerala: Legendary Communist leader K R Gowri Amma passes away
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala's veteran politician and member of the first Communist government headed by E M S Namboodiripad in 1957, K R Gowri Amma died here on Tuesday.
She was 102 and had been admitted to a private hospital due to age-related ailments. She breathed her last at 7 am on Tuesday while undergoing treatment in the ICU, hospital sources said.
Considered to be among the most powerful women leaders in Kerala, Gowri Amma, as she was fondly called, was the lone surviving member of the first Kerala legislative assembly.
After being expelled from the CPI(M) in 1994, Gowri floated a new political outfit -- Janathipathiya Samrakshana Samithi (JSS) -- which became a constituent of the Congress-led UDF in the state.
She was married to the late T V Thomas, who was also her cabinet colleague.
Gowri, who was the revenue minister in EMS Namboodiripad ministry, is credited with playing a key role in bringing the revolutionary Agrarian Relations Bill, which set the ceiling on the amount of land a family could own, paving the way for the landless farmers to claim excess land.
After the split in the Communist Party in 1964, Gowri joined the CPI (Marxist), while her husband remained with the CPI.
Born on July 14, 1919 in the sleepy Pattanakkad village of coastal Alappuzha to K A Ramanan and Parvathy Amma, Gowri was attracted to politics at a young age.
She was jailed in 1948, the year she joined the Communist Party, and defied adversities to build the organisation.
Gowri, the tallest woman politician of the state who never minced words to put her thoughts across, was elected to the Travancore-Cochin legislative assembly in 1952 and 1954.
After her successful foray to the state legislature in 1957 from Cherthala in Alappuzha, there was no looking back.
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Allahabad HC orders probe into 'reinstatement' of teacher in UP's Barabanki
Lucknow (PTI): The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Friday ordered a probe by the special task force (STF) into alleged irregularities in the rejoining of a teacher at City Intermediate College in Barabanki, observing that the reinstatement appeared to be prima facie illegal.
The court also directed the recovery of the salary paid to the teacher during the disputed period.
A bench of Justice Rajeev Singh passed the order on a petition filed by the college management committee. The court expressed doubts over the roles of the District Inspector of Schools (DIOS), Barabanki, the college principal and the teacher concerned and hence, directed a detailed inquiry into the matter.
Taking note of alleged manipulation of records and misleading submissions, the court ordered the immediate transfer of the Barabanki DIOS to ensure a fair probe. It also directed the initiation of disciplinary proceedings against the then joint director of education of the Ayodhya division.
In its order, the court found that the teacher, Abhay Kumar, was initially appointed as an assistant teacher in 2018 but joined an Eklavya Model Residential School in Chhattisgarh as a lecturer in June 2024 without obtaining permission from the management. His subsequent request to retain the lien was rejected.
Despite this, he was allowed to rejoin the Barabanki College in September 2025 on the directions of the joint director of education and the DIOS, and was even paid the salary for October 2025. The court termed the rejoining "wholly illegal" and lacking any legal basis.
The bench also expressed concern over lapses in communication within the education department and directed the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary to ensure that official orders are communicated through email and WhatsApp as well, to prevent disputes.
The matter is next listed for hearing on May 28 when a compliance report is sought.
