Dr. Jivraj Mehta | |
|---|---|
 Mehta in October 1947 | |
| 1st Chief Minister of Gujarat | |
| In office 1 May 1960 – 25 February 1963 | |
| Governor | Mehdi Nawaz Jung |
| Preceded by | Yashwantrao Chavan as Bombay State Office Established |
| Succeeded by | Balwantrai Mehta |
| Member of Parliament,Lok Sabha | |
| In office 1971-1977 | |
| Preceded by | Jayaben Shah |
| Succeeded by | Dwarkadas Patel |
| Constituency | Amreli,Gujarat |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1887-08-29)29 August 1887 |
| Died | 7 November 1978(1978-11-07) (aged 91) Bombay,Maharashtra, India |
| Party | Indian National Congress |
| Spouse | Hansa Jivraj Mehta |
| Source:[1] | |
Jivraj Narayan Mehta (29 August 1887 – 7 November 1978) was an Indian politician and the firstChief Minister of Gujarat. He also served as the first "Dewan" (Prime Minister) of the erstwhileBaroda state, and Indianhigh commissioner to the United Kingdom from 1963 to 1966.[1]
Jivraj Narayan Mehta was born on 29 August 1887 to Narayan and Jamakben Mehta in aKapolBania casteAmreli inBombay Presidency. He was son-in-law ofManubhai Mehta, thenDewan ofBaroda state. In his early age, Dr. Eduljee Rustomji Dadachandjee, a civil surgeon in Amreli prompted him to take up medicine. He subsequently secured admission into theGrant Medical College and Sir J. J. Hospital,Bombay, after clearing a stiff written test and a thoroughviva voce examination that was conducted by the British IMS officers.[citation needed]
Mehta's medical education was sponsored by the Seth VMKapol Boarding Trust. He topped the class in his firstLicentiate in Medicine and Surgery (equivalent ofMBBS) examination. In his final year, he won seven of the eight prizes open to his batch and shared the eighth prize with his hostel roommate Kashinath Dikshit.[citation needed]
Later, for postgraduate studies inLondon he applied to the Tata education foundation for a student loan and he was selected as one of the only two students for this prestigious fellowship from amongst several bright students who had applied for it. Jivraj Mehta lived from 1909 to 1915 in London. He was the president of the Indian Students Association in London where he studied medicine and did hisFRCS there. He won university gold medal in his MD examinations in 1914. Later, he became a member of theRoyal College of Physicians of London.[citation needed]
Mehta was briefly the personal doctor toMahatma Gandhi after returning to India and joined theindependence movement.[2]
Mehta was twice incarcerated (1938 and 1942) by the British government for his role in Gandhi'sSatyagraha movement. After independence in 1947, he held various public offices. He served as the first "Dewan" (Prime Minister) of the erstwhileBaroda state in free India sworn in on 4 September 1948,[3] director general of health services[4] and secretary to the ministry of health in the central government during the partition period, minister of public works, finance, industry and prohibition for the thenBombay state.
Mehta was the first chief minister of the newly formedGujarat state from April 1960 to September 1963. Later he also served as the Indian high commissioner to theUnited Kingdom from 1963 to 1966.
Mehta was the founder of Seth Gordhandas Sunderdas Medical College andKing Edward VII Memorial Hospital,Mumbai. He served in these institutions as their first dean over a period of 17 years (1925–1942).
In the 1930s, Mehta had gauged the fundamental importance of research in medical education. As the dean, he made many efforts towards securing adequate funds for the institute. Drs. P. C. Bharucha, M. D. D. Gilder, N. A. Purandare and R. N. Cooper responded overwhelmingly to his appeal for financial donations to the college research corpus. However, similar requests to the Indian Research Fund Association went for nothing. Then Dr. Jivraj persuaded SirWalter Morley Fletcher to visit KEM Hospital on his visit to Bombay to attend a dinner. He showed him the commendable research going on and also impressed upon Sir Walter the acute need of government support for such a research program. The result was government sanction of funds within a few weeks for the same projects through the Indian Research Fund Association.
Mehta with other medical personalities like Nilratan Sarkar and Dr.B. C. Roy strongly forwarded the case of the metropolitan city ofDelhi, when the government was contemplating establishment of a central medical research institute atDehradun. Their proposal was accepted by the government and result wasAll India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Delhi. He was also involved in the planning of the medical colleges and hospitals at Poona (nowPune),Ahmedabad,Nagpur andAurangabad. In the establishment of theTopiwala Nair Municipal Hospital, Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Hospital and theDr. Balabhai Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai, he played a key role. He was thrice elected president of the All India Medical Congress and also president of theIndian Medical Association.
Mehta died on 7 November 1978, at the age of 91.[citation needed] His marriage toHansabhan in the 1920s provoked what historian John R. Wood describes as a "mild sensation" because it was an inter-caste union, with Mehta being of theKapol Bania community and his wife coming from a prominentNagar Brahmin family.[5]
The newly instituted first-ever Dr. Jivraj Mehta Awards were also presented to veterans Dr. G. S. Sainani (Mumbai), Dr. V. Mohan (Chennai), Dr. Sidharth Shah (Mumbai), Dr. Ashok K. Das (Pondicherry) and Dr. S. K. Sharma (AIIMS, New Delhi) on 4 February 2015.
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