Dr Rajendra Prasad
affectionately addressed as Rajan Babu was born on December 03 1884 at Patna,
Bihar.
He obtained
his FA (1904), BA (1905), LL B (1910), and ML (1915) from Presidency College,
Calcutta University and PhD in Law from Allahabad University.
He served successively
as Lecturer in Economics (1908 – 1909) and Principal (1909) at Bhumihar Brahman
College and later as Professor of Economics at Calcutta University (1909 –
1911).
He enrolled as
an Advocate and practiced at the High Courts of Calcutta (1911 – 1916) and
Patna (1916 – 1921).
He however
gave up his lucrative legal practice and joined Independence Movement under the
leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. He actively participated and organized several
campaigns at regional and national levels for which he was imprisoned several
times by the British Raj (1921 – 1946).
He was
appointed as the First Union Minister of Food and Agriculture of India and
introduced the Grow More Food Campaign during his tenure (1946 -1946).
He was
elected as the President of the Constituent Assembly which framed the
Constitution of India and (1946 – 1950).
He was
elected as the First President of India on January 26, 1950 and served the august
office for two terms with dignity (1950 – 1962).
He thus had
the unique honour of not only drafting the Constitution of India as President
of Constituent Assembly, but also in implementing and safeguarding the same as
President of India.
He settled at
Sadaquat Ashram in Patna, Bihar after retirement and devoted his time writing
and lecturing on global peace, non violence and disarmament.
He died on
February 28, 1963 at Patna aged 79 years.
Independence and
Welfare Activist
He joined
Independence Movement under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi and actively
participated in the Non Cooperation, Civil Disobedience, Quit India and Salt
Satyagraha movements.
He served as
the President of Indian National Congress during the sessions held Bombay (1935),
1939 and 1947.
Humanist
A man of
humility, honesty and hard work, he organized the Champaran Satyagraha in 1917 for
the peasant’s welfare in indigo plantations. He headed and organized Relief
committees during river floods in Ganga (1923) and earthquakes in Quetta (1935)
He served as
the Secretary (1921 – 1923) and later as Vice Chancellor (1923 – 1927) of Bihar
Vidyapeeth at Patna founded under the guidance of Mahatma Gandhi
He was the President
of Gandhi Smarak Nidhi.
President of
Constituent Assembly of India
An eminent
jurist he was elected as the President of the 299 member Constituent Assembly of
India on November 11, 1946. He guided and regulated the debates of the Assembly
with grace, patience, discipline, objectivity and impartiality and helped to draft
the longest and most exhaustive constitution of a sovereign nation in the world within a record
span of two years, eleven months and eighteen days.
The Constitution
of India consisting of 395 articles in 22 parts, 14 schedules with a total of
117369 words in the English language version was adopted on November 26, 1949
and implemented with effect from January 26, 1950. The Constitution of India lays down the framework of the duties of the citizens of India and different governing bodies. The best part of the constitution is that it provides for amendments or changes to keep up with the changing times.
President of India
He was elected as the President of India in 1950
and held the post with exemplary grace and dignity for two terms (1950 – 1957
and 1957 – 1962).
He is the first
person to be elected to the august office and the only person to have served
two terms.
He helped in regulating,
implementing, defending, protecting the traditions and conventions in democracy
and helped to establish India as the largest parliamentary democracy in the
world.
Awards
The Government of India honoured him
with Bharat Ratna in 1962.
Doctorates
An eminent
Jurist, Independence activist, Humanist, Statesman and Parliamentarian , He was
conferred Doctorate of Law by University
of Allahabad (1937) and Honorary Doctorates of Letters by the Universities of Kashi
Vidyapith, Mysore, Delhi and Patna.
Titles
He was
affectionately addressed as Rajan Babu and Desh Ratna by the People of India.
Publications
An avid reader
and a prolific writer he wrote on peace, non violence, development and
disarmament issues in English, Hindi, Sanskrit, Urdu and Persian. He edited an
English biweekly Search light and a Hindi weekly Desh.
He
published his autobiography titled Atma Katha in 0000
He served as the Secretary and later as
President of All India Hindi Sahitya Sammelan.
Resources
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