Nirmala Sitharaman, who has been inducted into the Narendra Modi Cabinet as Minister of State (Independent charge), is connected to Tiruchi in more than one way.
Ms. Sitharaman’s maternal grandfather was from Musiri, a town situated along the banks of the Cauvery, in Tiruchi district. As her father was employed with the Railways, a transferable job, she had her schooling in different towns and cities in the State, including Salem, Tiruchi and Chennai.
After Class V, she and her sister were sent to her maternal aunt’s house in Chennai, where she did her schooling for three years. Thereafter, the family came to Tiruchi and settled down at the Railway Quarters, Kallukuzhi.
It was in Tiruchi she did the rest of her schooling and graduation. Ms. Sitharaman joined the now defunct Pre-University Course at Seethalakshmi Ramaswami College in 1976 and then did her Bachelor of Arts (Economics) in the same institution from 1977 to 1980.
She left for Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, where she did her Masters in Economics. She was married into an Andhra family. After post- graduation, Ms. Sitharaman pursued her Ph. D. on ‘India-Europe textile trade.’ Though she submitted her thesis, she never appeared for the viva-voce, as she had to proceeded to London with her husband. She returned to India in 1991 and settled down at Narasapuram in Andhra Pradesh with her husband.
R. Panchapakesan, Secretary and Managing Trustee of Seethalakshmi Ramaswami College, has greeted Ms. Sitharaman.
