Anugrah Narayan Sinha | |
|---|---|
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| 1st Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar andFinance Minister of Bihar | |
| In office 2 April 1946 – 5 July 1957 | |
| Chief Minister | Sri Krishna Sinha |
| Preceded by | Position Created |
| Succeeded by | Vacant |
| Member Of Constituent Assembly | |
| In office 9 December 1946 – 26 January 1950 | |
| Preceded by | Post Created |
| Succeeded by | Post Abolished |
| Constituency | Aurangabad |
| Deputy Premier and Finance Minister of Bihar Province | |
| In office 20 July 1937 – 31 October 1939 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Governor's rule |
| MemberCentral Legislative Council | |
| In office 1926–1930 | |
| Governor General | The Earl of Halifax |
| Preceded by | MaharajaRameshwar Singh |
| Succeeded by | Vacant |
| MemberCentral Legislative Assembly | |
| In office 1923–1926 | |
| Governor General | The Earl of Reading |
| Preceded by | Ambika Prasad Sinha |
| Succeeded by | Badri Lal Rastogi |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1887-06-18)18 June 1887 |
| Died | 5 July 1957(1957-07-05) (aged 70) |
| Political party | Indian National Congress |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Lawyer Nationalist Statesman Educationist Administrator |
| Nickname | Bihar Vibhuti |
| MERAY SANSMARAN | |
As of 12 July, 2006 Source:[1] | |
Anugrah Narayan Sinha (18 June 1887 – 5 July 1957), known asBihar Vibhuti, was an Indian nationalist politician, participant inChamparan Satyagraha,Gandhian, and one[1] of the architects of modern Bihar. He served as the firstDeputy Chief Minister[2] and theFinance Minister of the Indian state ofBihar from 1946 to 1957.[3] He was also a member of theConstituent Assembly of India, which was elected to write theConstitution of India and served in its first Parliament as an independent nation.[4] He also held a range of portfolios including Labour, Local Self Government, Public Works, Supply & Price Control, Health and Agriculture.[5] A.N. Sinha, affectionately called AnugrahBabu, was a close associate ofMahatma Gandhi[6] during the freedom movement and worked withBihar KesariSri Krishna Sinha to lead theGandhian movement in Bihar.[7] One of the leading nationalists in theIndian independence movement fromBihar after DrRajendra Prasad, he was elected as the Congress Party[8] deputy leader in the state assembly to assume office as the first DeputyChief Minister cumFinance Minister of independentBihar, and re-elected when the Congress Party won Bihar's first[9] general election with a massive mandate in 1952.
He was born to Visveshwar Dayal Singh on 18 June 1887 in a family of Poiwan village of the former Gaya district (later Aurangabad) in Bihar in theRajput caste.[10][11][12] His younger sonSatyendra Narayan Sinha became chief minister of Bihar.
He became the Secretary[5] of the Bihar Students Conference founded byRajendra Prasad and the Chanakya Society of the Patna College. In 1915 he was appointed Professor of History at the T.N.B. college in Bhagalpur where he remained until 1916.[13]
In 1917, heeding the call ofMahatma Gandhi to the nation, he left his flourishing law practice to join theChamparan Satyagraha movement.[6][4] The Champaran experiment formed a vital chapter in the development of theGandhian method in India and he was catapulted to the national stage. He served as a teacher inBihar Vidyapeeth[4] founded byRajendra Prasad for motivating young meritorious youths. Among[5] his first students was youngJayprakash Narayan. In 1922 he organized the GayaCongress. In the following year he became one of the General Secretaries of the All India Congress Committee (AICC). When Rajendra Prasad was elected Chairman of Patna Municipality, Sinha was elected Vice-Chairman. As he was soon elected Chairman of the Gaya District Board, he resigned. He was the pivotal force behind the Civil Disobedience Movement led by M K Gandhi, in the year 1930 which is considered an important milestone in the history of Indian Nationalism.[13]
His patriotism earned him 15 months of rigorous imprisonment in 1933–34. When the M8Nepal–Bihar earthquake occurred on 15 January 1934, Bihar Central Relief Committee was set up on 17 January 1934, under the Presidency of Rajendra Prasad and Sinha became its Vice-President. He took the task of raising funds to help the people and the relief and rehabilitation work was organized in an elaborate and efficient manner. He was elected as a member of the Central Council in 1935 from Sahabad-cum-Patna Constituency with a massive margin. He became a member of theBihar Legislative Assembly in 1936. In the provincial autonomy granted by British, under theGovernment of India Act of 1935, the first Congress ministry was sworn in on 20 July 1937 and he became the Deputy Premier cumFinance Minister ofBihar province. He and PremierSri Krishna Sinha disagreed with the then GovernorMaurice Garnier Hallett on the issue of the release of political prisoners and both resigned. The Governor had to give in and they again resumed their offices. But they again resigned in 1939, as did all Congress governments in the country, over the question of involving India in the Second World War without the consent of the Indian people.[4][5]
He was among the first[13] freedom fighters to respond to Gandhiji's call forSatyagraha in 1940–41.He was arrested[4] by the British authorities and imprisoned in the Hazaribagh Central Jail in 1942.In 1944 he was released and devoted himself to serving the epidemic-ridden people.
After independence he dedicated himself to the all round development of Bihar asFinance Minister and as theDeputy Chief Minister of Bihar.[13]
The first Bihar Government, both in 1937 and 1946, was characterized by the values of theMahatma Gandhi. Its two eminent leadersShri Krishna Sinha and Anugrah Babu were nationalists of unimpeachable integrity and great public spirit. They ran an exemplary government in Bihar.[14] Almost all the development projects needed for the state of Bihar were done by the leadership pair ofShri Krishna Sinha and Anugrah Narayan Sinha. It included several river valley projects right from Koshi, Aghaur and Sakri to other such river projects. The first five-year plan period was given to the development in rural development works mainly in the agricultural sector. In fact, Bihar became the top state in the country's first five-year plan and it was announced by Sinha in the assembly. The thenPrime Minister of IndiaJawaharlal Nehru sentPaul H. Appleby to assess the administration in states and in his famous report, he described Bihar as the best governed state in India mostly due to the excellent leadership ofShri Krishna Sinha and Anugrah Narayan Sinha.[15]
Since the second five-year plan period, Sinha spearheaded the process of rapid industrialization of Bihar and bought several industries for the all round development of the state. He served India's international interests. He successfully led the Indian Food and Agriculture delegation to Nepal and also the Indian delegation to theInternational Labour Organization (ILO) inCanada andSwitzerland.He also actively led a number of Government and voluntary organizations in India and abroad.[13]
Along with nationalistRajendra Prasad and his close colleague in the Indian independence movementShri Krishna Sinha, the firstChief Minister of Bihar, Anugrah Narayan Sinha is considered one of thearchitects of modern Bihar.[16][17]His younger son[18]Satyendra Narayan Singh (who was affectionately called "Chhote Saheb") also became a prominent freedom fighter[19] and later became[20]Chief Minister of Bihar.[16] His grandsonNikhil Kumar, a former IPS, has served as theGovernor of Kerala.[21] Sinha served the state continuously, barring war years (Second World War 1939–1945), as the Deputy Chief Minister cumFinance Minister from the time of the first[13] Congress Ministry in 1937 till his death on 5 July 1957.[22]Lok NayakJayaprakash Narayan[15] served as the Chairman ofAnugraha Smarak Nidhi (Anugrah Memorial Fund). TheDepartment of Posts released acommemorative stamp in his memory. The 125th birth anniversary[23] of Anugrah Babu was also celebrated by a state level committee headed by BiharChief MinisterNitish Kumar. In 2013, various programmes were organized throughout the year in Bihar and biographies ofShri babu and AnugrahBabu were included in the school syllabus.
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