1. Padmanabhan Palpu was a physician from the Kingdom of Travancore who served as a chief medical officer of Mysore State.
14 Facts About Padmanabhan Palpu
1. 2.
Padmanabhan Palpu led social activism for the Ezhava community in Kerala and a led a movement for social equality.
3.
Padmanabhan Palpu was born in Petta, Thiruvananthapuram, then in the Kingdom of Travancore, India.
4.
Padmanabhan Palpu's family consisted of wealthy and well-educated members who came from the Ezhava caste.
5.
Padmanabhan Palpu, who had learned English from a Eurasian tutor from the age of 12, attended Maharaja's College in Thiruvananthapuram and matriculated there in 1883.
6.
Padmanabhan Palpu then wrote the examination for admission to medical studies.
7.
Padmanabhan Palpu was denied the admission though he ranked second.
8.
Padmanabhan Palpu was refused admission to Travancore Medical College due to his caste.
9.
Padmanabhan Palpu went to England to further his medical training at London and Cambridge.
10.
Padmanabhan Palpu's salary was more than the salary of Travancore Diwan.
11.
Padmanabhan Palpu was able to work for the British there as a public health doctor.
12.
Padmanabhan Palpu noted that if members of the community wanted education or government jobs then their only recourse was to convert from Hinduism to Christianity.
13.
Shungrasoobyer was slow in responding but in February 1896, when Padmanabhan Palpu had taken leave from his job in Bangalore, Mysore, to press the matter in Thiruvananthapuram, he told Padmanabhan Palpu that the government would open as many of its schools as possible to Ezhavas and that it would consider applications from qualified Ezhavas for posts in all departments other than Revenue.
14.
Padmanabhan Palpu organised a petition that attracted the signatures of 13,176 Ezhavas.