Anbumani Ramadoss

Anbumani Ramdoss assumes the charge of the Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare in New Delhi on 25 May 2004

The 108 Ambulance Service was introduced during his tenure

On 22 May 2004, Anbumani became as the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of India. At the time of induction into the Manmohan Singh's 2004 cabinet, Anbumani was the youngest Cabinet Minister in the Union Cabinet. During his tenure, the ministry set up various institutions like the Public Health Foundation of India, Department of Health Research, National Institute of Communicable Diseases, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India and the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library. As the Union Health Minister, Anbumani established the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in 2005 to provide primary health care to the women and children living in the rural parts of India. The project was lauded as 'the largest successful health scheme to be implemented anywhere in the world' by economist Jeffrey Sachs.[5][6]

Under Anbumani, the ministry of health brought stringent regulations against the sale of tobacco products. Anbumani initiated a National Alcohol Policy for the first time in India and advocated for 2 October, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi to be observed as World No-Alcohol day.[7][8] Anbumani along with T D Dogra, the then Director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi expanded the institution to Jhajjar district, Haryana.[9][10]

He became a Member of Parliament from Dharmapuri Lok Sabha Constituency in 2014 as a part of the NDA with Bharatiya Janata Party.[4] On 6 October 2015, Anbumani offered to quit the NDA if his decision could help find a permanent solution to the problems of the Sri Lankan Tamils.[11][12]

Anbumani had the worst attendance of 15% among those from Tamil Nadu in both Houses as a Rajya Sabha MP as of December 2019.[13]

Anbumani was declared as the Chief Ministerial Candidate from PMK for the 2016 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly elections. He contested from Pennagaram and lost by 18,446 vote.

During his campaign in Kancheepuram in 2019 he told cadres that it is only they who will be in the polling booths. He said to his party members “We will only be there. Then what? Do I need to say it out loud? You understood, right? That’s all, it’s done. Both of them have won.”[14] The Thiruporur police in April 2019 initiated steps for registering cases against Anbumani Ramadoss for allegedly hinting at booth-capturing by his coalition parties to ensure success of their candidates in the April 18 elections.[15]

Anbumani Ramadoss was arrested by Kancheepuram police in May 2013 in connection with an alleged hate speech case filed against him, the previous year. PMK workers set at least three buses on fire, and damaged over a hundred government buses by stone pelting.[16] The police detained about 4,000 PMK workers around the state.[17]

In March 2014, the Dharmapuri Police filed FIR on Anbumani Ramadoss and two others on charges of circulating CDs containing video/audio clips containing speeches by his father S Ramadoss and others on Marakkanam violence and Dharmapuri violence that could promote violence and hostility between two groups.[18] A case against Ramdoss together with the PMK Deputy Secretary General and PMK District Secretary was registered under IPC sections relating to offenses including promoting hatred among various groups and issuing statements leading to public misbehavior and breaching Model Code of Conduct.[19][20]