Pratap Chandra Chunder

Pratap Chandra Chunder
Chunder in 2006.
Minister of Education
In office
24 March 1977 – 28 July 1979
Prime MinisterMorarji Desai
Preceded bySaiyid Nurul Hasan
Succeeded byKaran Singh
Minister of Social Welfare
In office
26 March 1977 – 28 July 1979
Prime MinisterMorarji Desai
Preceded bySaiyid Nurul Hasan
Succeeded bySathiavani Muthu
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
1977–1980
Preceded byHirendranath Mukherjee
Succeeded bySunil Maitra
ConstituencyCalcutta North East
Member of West Bengal Legislative Assembly
In office
1962–1967
Preceded byJatindra Chandra Chakraborty
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
ConstituencyMuchipara
In office
1967–1968
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byJatindra Chandra Chakraborty
ConstituencySealdah
Personal details
Born(1919-09-01)1 September 1919
Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India
Died1 January 2008(2008-01-01) (aged 88)
Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Political partyJanata Dal
Other political
affiliations		Janata Party
Indian National Congress
SpouseLeena Chunder
Children4
Alma materB.A (hons) in history
Presidency College
LLB
Calcutta University
D. Phil
Calcutta University

Pratap Chandra Chunder (1 September 1919 – 1 January 2008) (Bengali: প্রতাপচন্দ্র চন্দ্র) was a union minister of India, educationist and author. He served in the Morarji Desai Ministry as a cabinet minister with education and social welfare portfolios.[1][2][3]

Family and education

Chunder was the son of Nirmal Chandra Chunder [bn], a prominent member of the Indian National Congress who was a close associate of Chittaranjan Das, a labour union leader & had also served as a Member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly (1925 - 30) & the Mayor of Calcutta Municipal Corporation (May 1952 to March 1953) . Both his father & grandfather Ganesh Chandra Chunder were renowned lawyers of the city. He completed his BA (Hons.) in history at Presidency College, Calcutta, ranking first class first, and his LLB at the University of Calcutta. He was awarded a D Phil in Arts from the same university.[1][2]

Career

From an early age Chunder joined the Congress Party and became a member of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from 1962-68. He was briefly the Finance and Judicial Minister of West Bengal in 1968 under Prafulla Chandra Ghosh. From 1977 to 1979 he was the Education and Social Welfare Minister of India, having been elected from Calcutta North East constituency a Janata Party candidate, defeating the sitting 5 - time MP Hirendranath Mukherjee of CPI. He lost his seat in 1980 to CPI(M)'s Sunil Maitra, in which he came third. Chunder stood as the Janata Dal candidate in 1991 general elections in which he came second & failed to defeat incumbent Ajit Kumar Panja of INC(I)

Chunder was an attorney-at-law at the Calcutta High Court and an advocate of the Supreme Court of India. He was member of Senate and the faculty of law of the Calcutta University between 1961 and 1968.

Chunder was the Founder-Chairman of West Bengal Heritage Commission and the President of the Board of Governors of IISWBM, India's first MBA school. From 2000 to 2005 he was a member of the executive council of the Rabindra Bharati University. Chunder was the President of the Presidency College Alumni Association from 1989-90 to 1993-94 and again during 1998-99.

Pratap Chandra Chunder died of cardiovascular disease on 1 January 2008, aged 88.[4]

Publications

Chunder authored many historical novels and dramas. They are:[2]

  • Bubhuksha
  • Smrtira Alinde
  • Job Charnocker Bibi
  • Glimpses of Indian Culture: Ancient and Modern
  • Kautilya on Love and Morals

References

  1. ^ a b "Former union minister P.C. Chunder dead". India Today. 1 January 2008. Retrieved 10 January 2022 – via Indo-Asian News Service.
  2. ^ a b c "Members Bioprofile". loksabhaph.nic.in. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  3. ^ "Ex-Union minister PC Chunder is no more - Indian Express". archive.indianexpress.com. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  4. ^ India. Parliament. House of the People (February 2008). Parliamentary Debates: Official Report. Lok Sabha Secretariat.