P. K. Sreemathy – Prominent Female Communist Leader from Kerala

P. K. Sreemathy is a politician from Kerala who belongs to Communist Party of India (Marxist). A member of state assembly during 2001-2011, she served as the Health and Family Welfare Minister of Kerala for a term of 5 years since 2006. She represented Payyanur assembly constituency for both these terms. She later served as a member of 16th Lok Sabha, representing Kannur constituency between 2014 and 2019, and got defeated from the same constituency in 2019. She is fondly addressed as Sreemathy Teacher, as she was into teaching profession before joining politics.

P. K. Sreemathy was born in 1949 in Mayyil, Kannur district. She is a teacher turned politician. For the last three decades she is into politics and social service. She got elected to state assembly for the first time in 2001 from Payyanur, and became a minister of V. S. Achuthanandan’s cabinet when she was re-elected from the same constituency in 2006. She has formerly served as Standing Committee Chairperson of Kannur District Council, and also a member of Committee on Empowerment of Women and Standing Committee on Human Resource Development.

P. K. Sreemathy – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. She is a two-term legislator and one-term parliamentarian.

2. During her tenure as health minister of Kerala, she abolished private practicing of medical doctors and nurses (who work in government sector) within the state. It received both positive and negative responses.

3. She also extended the working hours of doctors in Primary Health Centres till afternoons, while serving as health minister.

4. Her brother-in-law E. P. Jayarajan is a leading Communist leader and state minister from Kannur. Jayarajan is married to her younger sister Indira, who is interested in farming field than politics.

5. In 2014 Lok sabha elections, she defeated UDF’s K. Sudhakaran by 6566 votes. In 2019 elections, Sudhakaran defeated her.

6. She served as President of Kannur District Panchayat from 1995 to 1997.

7. She is married to Damodaran Nambiar and has one son.