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"Rickshaw Pullers in Tambaram", "A Village from the Past", "Karunanidhi and Kamaraj", "Political Uncertainty in Tamil Nadu", "Preventable Blindness among Children", "Public Opinion on Mrs. Gandhi's Imprisonment", "Election Prospects", "Prohibition in Tamil Nadu", "Rag Pickers of Madras" -- these are among the many themes of socio-economic and political significance that Dr.Gift Siromoney with his colleagues and students in the Madras Christian College took up for survey and study during the 1970s and the early 1980s. They were essentially quick surveys, each one bringing to the notice of the academic community and the public at large some interesting, surprising or disturbing fact about "the wider arena of life outside the college walls". The survey of rickshaw pullers in Tambaram, the first in the series, was prompted by a poem that a colleague had written describing the pitiable conditions of a group of workers on whom practically all members of the college community depend. The survey converted the emotive expressions of the poem into facts and figures. In 1970 some residents of the village just about 60 kilometers away from the state capital had not heard about any of the national leaders nor could even recognize the name of "Anna", C.N.Annadurai whose coming to power as Chief Minister in 1966 had signified a major political revolution in Tamil Nadu and whose pre-mature demise in 1969 had caused much public lamentation. Not surprisingly the report about the village hit the headlines in many newspapers. A report that many children in the neighborhood of Madras suffered from preventable blindness because of vitamin A deficiency caught the attention of the then-Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi who immediately ordered remedial action.

At a time when few people had heard about opinion polls, especially on the eve of elections, Gift Siromoney and associates took the risk, canvassed the views of voters and predicted the outcome of some of the most crucial elections of the early 1970s. The success they had in the effort led to pre-election surveys becoming a regular feature in subsequent years. Surveys and polls on other themes too came to be taken up. Apart from pioneering in these areas, Gift Siromoney enthused generations of students to explore and educated them on how to do it. There is no doubt that this was one of his major contributions.

- C. T. Kurien (Fellow Student and Colleague 1950-78)
Formerly: Director
Currently: Prof. Emeritus, Madras Institute of Development Studies(MIDS), Chennai.

Publications

1. Rickshaw pullers surveyed
   MCC Mag., Vol. xxxviii, No.2, 1969, (with Manning, I.G.)  READ
2. A village from the past
   MCC Mag,. Vol. xxxix, April 1970 pp. 1-4  
3. Vetkakkedu Ammanabakkam Tamilnattile (Poem in Tamil)
   Kaditham, August 7, 1970 (with Chandarasekaran M and Kannan V)  READ
4. Mood of the electorate in Tamil Nadu
   STAT - 07/71, (mimeo), 1971.  
5. D.M.K. has clear edge over Old Congress
   The Mail, February 19, 1971  READ
6. Karunanidhi and Kamaraj have equal hold
   The Mail, February 20, 1971.  READ
7. Public opinion poll on Bangladesh and the proposed suspension of prohibition in Tamil Nadu
   STAT - 08/71, (mimeo), October 1971  
8. Savings behaviour of producer-households
   Southern Economic Review,
   also STAT-09/71, (mimeo), December 1971 (with Kurien, C.T.)  READ
9. Villagers who have not heard of the Indo-Pak war
   MCC Mag., Vol. xl1, pp. 37-39, 1972  READ
10. Student opinion on convocation and honorary degrees
    MCC Mag., Vol. xl1, pp. 39-40, 1972  READ
11. Political uncertainty in Tamil Nadu
    STAT-16/73, (mimeo), January 1973 (with Abdul Lateef)  READ
12. The college student: an opinion poll
    STAT-19/73, (mimeo), October 1973 (with Rajagopalan, K.R. and Bagavandas, M.)  
13. Children's vision: A sample survey of children in Tamil Nadu
    MCC Mag., Vol. xlv, pp. 40-41, 1976  READ
14. Preventable blindness among children of Tamil Nadu
    STAT-23/76, (mimeo), June 1976  READ
15. Public opinion poll
    MCC Mag.,Vol. xlv, pp. 42-44, 1976 (with Chandrasekaran, M. and Govindaraju, S.)  READ
16. Tamil Nadu: deities and devotees
    Aaraaichi, September, 1976, pp. 28-33, Gift Siromoney, Also in Indological Essays, Commemorative Volume II  for Gift Siromoney edited by Michael Lockwood, 1992, Madras Christian College, Tambaram pp.181-189. STAT-25/76, (mimeo), August 1976 (with Rajagopalan, K.R.)  READ
17. Madras city public opinion poll
    MCC Mag., Vol. xlvi, pp. 44-45, 1977 (with Bagavandas, M. and Govindaraju, S.)  READ
18. Surveys
    MCC Mag., Vol. xlvii, pp. 21-26, 1978 (with Bala, S. and Govindaraju, S.)  READ
19. Villupuram interviews
    MCC Mag., Vol. xlviii, pp. 12-14, 1979 (with Bala, S. and Chandrasekaran, R.)  READ
20. Public opinion survey on prohibition, Tamil Script reform and declaration of emergency
    MCC Mag., Vol. xlviii, pp. 16-17, 1979 (with Bala, S.)  READ
21. Public opinion on Mrs Gandhi's imprisonment, political leaders and parties
    MCC Mag., Vol. xlviii, pp. 17-18, 1979 (with Bala, S. and Bagavandas, M.)  READ
22. A pre-election survey of voters of Thanjavur parliamentary constituency
    MCC Mag., Vol. xlviii, 18, 1979
    also The Mail, 13 June 1979 (with Chandarasekaran, M.)  READ
23. Election prospects
    ASIDE, 50, November, 1979  
24. A pre-election survey of voters of Tamil Nadu, December 1979, MCC Mag., Vol. xlix, 28, 1980 (with Bala, S. and Lalitha, S.)  READ
25. Prohibition policy and popularity of MGR -- results of a public opinion survey
    MCC Mag., Vol. xlix, p. 29, 1980 (with Chandarsekaran, M. and Chandrasekaran, R.)  READ
26. Public opinion on summary punishment of criminals
    MCC Mag., Vol. i, p. 59, 1981  READ
27. Relative popularity of political leaders in Tamil Nadu
    MCC Mag., Vol. ii, pp. 71-72, 1981  
28. Public opinion on prohibition in Tamil Nadu
    MCC Mag., Vol. ii, p. 73, 1981 (with Johnson Varatharaj and Bala, S.)  READ
29. Relative popularity of political leaders in Tamil Nadu: results of a statewide public opinion survey
    MCC Mag., Vol. li, pp. 47-48, 1982 (with Johnson Varatharaj)  READ
30. Public opinion on the withdrawal of prohibition in Tamil Nadu
    MCC Mag., Vol. li, pp. 49-50, 1982  READ
31. Parliamentary elections in Tamil Nadu
    Report of a pre-election survey conducted in December 1979, 
    Religion and Society, Vol. 29, pp. 58-75, 1982  READ
32. Report of a public opinion survey of Periyakulam Parliamentary Constituency conducted during the third week of September 1982 READ
33. Relative popularity of political parties in the Perambur Assembly Constituency
    A report based on a Sample Survey conducted during the first week of October, 1984. (Manuscript)  
34. The Saidpet assembly constituency: A study of relative popularity of political parties
    A report of a Sample Survey conducted in the first week of October, 1984 (Manuscript)  
35. A report on Rag Pickers of Madras by Shantha David and Helen George (Manuscript)  
36. Report of a  public opinion survey of Tamil Nadu conducted in March 1987, (Manuscript) March 21, 1987 READ