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Lala Shri Ram | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1884-04-27)27 April 1884 |
| Died | 11 January 1963(1963-01-11) (aged 78) |
| Alma mater | Hindu College |
| Spouse | Phoolan Devi (Lady Shri Ram) |
| Children | Murli Dhar,Bharat Ram, Charat Ram |
| Parents |
|
| Relatives | Sir Shankar Lal (brother) |
SirShri Ram (27 April 1884 – 11 January 1963), better known asLala Shri Ram, was an Indianindustrialist andphilanthropist.[1] Ram was the owner ofDelhi Cloth & General Mills, one of the oldest companies in India.[2][3] During his business career, Ram was one of India's most prominent industrialists.[4][2][5] In 1941, theBritish Raj government in India conferred Ram withknighthood in recognition of his contributions to the development of Indian society.[6][7] Ram was also noted for his philanthropy, which included founding theShri Ram College of Commerce andLady Shri Ram College for Women.[8][9][10]
Shri Ram was born on April 27, 1884.[11] He was the first son of Madan Mohan Lal and Chando Devi to aAgarwal family inHaryana, which was thenBritish Punjab Province.[11][12] Ram had a younger brother, Lala Shankar Lal.[7]
Ram's family at the time was known as the Kotwal family, which stemmed from Ram's great-grandfather, who wasKotwal, a military title, in Delhi during theIndian Rebellion of 1857.[13] Ram's early education was from a Municipal Primary School in Bazaar Sita Ram.[11] He matriculated in March 1900 and later enrolled in the Intermediate Arts course atHindu College,Delhi University.[14]
Lala Gopal Roy, Ram's uncle, was one of the founders and the first secretary ofDelhi Cloth & General Mills (DCM), which was founded on 2 March 1891.[4] Prior, he had been amunim (a kind of private secretary) working in apedhi.[4][clarification needed]
Ram's first interaction with DCM happened in 1905, when Ram, at the age of 21, attended an annual general meeting with his uncle, Lala Gopal Roy.[4] His uncle died the same year and Ram's father, Madan Mohan Lal, was appointed in his place as secretary of the company.[4] In 1909, Ram, at the age of 25, joined the company as an apprentice in the accounts department under Munim Ram Path and though Ram at the time did not have a formal company title, he had enough authority to act on his father's behalf.[4] Ram ran the company with his father for another decade; however, his father gradually lowered his own responsibilities, and Ram assumed formal charge of the company.[4]
DuringWorld War I, Ram secured a large contract to supply tents for theBritish Army and theBritish Raj government, which grew DCM's earnings.[12] Ram also grew his personal fortune through the tents contract by forming a distinct tent company which had a tripartite ownership between DCM, which owned 50%, Ram, who owned 25%, and a contractor who owned the remaining 25%.[12] Ram and the contractor were entitled to receive 20% of profits from the tent deal and DCM received 50%.[4] Ram used the money he earned from the tent deal to buy shares of DCM, which increased his holding in the company from less than 5% to 16%, and then to 20% by 1925.[12][4]
Between 1923 and 1929, DCM's sales increased by three times and the company was the only textile producer in the region of Delhi and Punjab.[12] In 1932, DCM entered thesugar industry and Ram supervised the construction of the company'ssugar mill inDaurala,Meerut.[12] In the 1930s, Ram led DCM's entry into various industries that began to manufactured a vast variety of products, includingtextiles,chemicals,vanaspati (hydrogenated vegetable oil),pottery,fans,sewing machines,electric motors, andcapacitors.[1][15][16][12]
In 1941, Ram wasknighted by theBritish Raj's government and his younger brother, Lala Shankar Lal was later knighted as well.[17][7] In his business career, Ram managed to make managed to make Delhi Cloth & General Mills an industrial empire by 1963, the year he died.[4][18] During his business career, Ram was noted as one of North India's most prominent businessmen.[19][20][2]
In 1920, Shri Ram conducted the first experiment in vocation-oriented education by founding the Commercial Education Trust (CET). The first school promoted by CET was the commercial high school, which was raised in 1926 to the standard of an intermediate college, in 1930 to a degree college, and in 1934 to a post-graduate college. In 1942, Shri Ram became the chairman of the governing body of the college. By 1948, although comparatively young among the colleges of Delhi University, the Commercial College had the maximum enrolment possible under the university rules. The college offered a B.A. Pass course, a B.A. Honours course in Commerce, and M.A. courses in Economics and Commerce. In 1949, it was proposed to rename the college as "Shri Ram College of Commerce" but it took three years to implement it due to Shri Ram's reticence. His association with the CET continued right up to the end of his life.[21] Shri Ram College of Commerce later became one of India's most prestigious institutions for commerce and economics.[10][22]
The Shriram Institute for Industrial Research, founded in 1947 by Shri Ram, started functioning in 1950. Shri Ram believed that if India was to catch up with the rest of the world, it was necessary to understand existing technology and innovate it through research.[23]
Lady Shri Ram College for Women was established in 1956, in New Delhi, by Ram in memory of his wife Phoolan Devi.[9] Lady Shri Ram College for Women began in what was earlier the hostel building of the Shri Ram College of Commerce inDaryaganj, and today, the college's campus is inLajpat Nagar.[9][24] Lady Shri Ram College for Women is one of India's most prestigious colleges.[25][26]
On 16 February 1930, Ram became the 4th president of theFederation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), and withMahatma Gandhi by his side, delivered his presidential address.[4]
Ram was nominated as a member of first Central Board of Directors of theReserve Bank of India, effective 1 January 1935.[27]
On 2 March 1937, the Delhi Improvement Trust came into being and Ram became its member.[28]
Ram was the member of All-India Organisation of Industrial Employers (AOIE) since its inception and became the President of AOIE for the year 1940 and 1941.[29]
Ram died on 11 January 1963.[21] Following his death,S. Radhakrishnan, thePresident of India at the time, said, "He was not only a great industrialist but helped many good causes. His contributions to education are memorable."[21] Ram's businesses were inherited by his two sons:Bharat Ram and Charat Ram. His eldest son, Murli Dhar, died in a plane crash near Karachi in 1949.[30]
Khushwant Singh and Arun Joshi, “Shri Ram-A Biography” (1968) Asia Publishing House, Bombay
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