A. Arulpiragasam


Arumugam Arulpiragasam was a leading Ceylon Tamil civil servant and Commissioner of Elections.

Early life

Arulpiragasam was born around 1890. He was the son of Arumugam, a schoolmaster from Valveddi in northern British Ceylon. He was educated at Udupiddy American Mission College, Jaffna College, Vaddukoddai.
Arulpiragasam married Sathyabaladevi, daughter of Kandiah from Udupiddy. They had three sons and four daughters.

Career

Arulpiragasam joined the Government Clerical Service after school and later qualified as an advocate. He then joined the Land Development Department as a Settlement Officer. In 1942 he was moved to the Ceylon Civil Service where he worked on the Colombo Plan Exhibition. He later served as Assistant Government Agent in Colombo, Puttalam and Kurunegala. He went on to serve in numerous senior civil servant positions including Registrar General and Commissioner of Elections. He also held a senior position at Lake House Newspapers.
Arulpiragasam was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 1953 New Year Honours. He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1954 Birthday Honours.
Arulpiragasam died in 1975.