Category Personalities

                R. Venkataraman has received many honours from universities in different parts of the world. Madras University, Burdwan University, Nagarjuna University and Philippines University bestowed on Venkataraman the honorary doctor of law. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Madras Medical College; and doctor of social sciences, University of Roorkee.

               In recognition of his participation in the freedom movement, Venkataraman was awarded the Tamra Patra.

              The Russian government had conferred the Soviet Land Prize on him for writing the travelogue on former Tamil Nadu Crime Minister, Kumaraswami Kamaraj’s visit to Russia.

              For his distinguished service as the President of the United Nations Administrative Tribunal, Venkataraman was given a souvenir by the secretary of the UN.

             Besides all these, Venkataraman was a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly in 1953, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1960 and 1961.

             Venkataraman was leader of the Indian delegation to the 42nd Session of the international Labour Conference at Geneva and represented India in the Inter Parliamentary Conference in Vienna. He was a member of the United Nations Administrative Tribunal and was its president from 1968 to 1979.

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            Venkataraman, a freedom fighter, actively participated in the Quit India Movement of 1942 for which he was arrested, and jailed.

             After he was released, he became a member of the Constituent Assembly and drafted the Constitution of India. In 1950, Venkataraman was elected to the Provisional Parliament of India (1950-1952) and to the first Parliament (1952-1957).

            He was appointed by the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi as a member of the Union Planning Commission in 1967 to supervise matters of industry, power, transport, communications and railways.

                    In 1980, he was elected to the Lok Sabha and was made Finance Minister in the Indira Gandhi government. Later, he was appointed Defence Minister in 1983.

                    Venkataraman gave the required boosting to India’s missile technology. He initiated India’s first missile programme. It was Venkataraman who transferred A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to the missile programme from the space programme. Kalam was later known as the ‘missile man of India’ for leading the ballistic missile technology.

                    Venkataraman was then, made the Vice President of India in 1984, and later, in July 1987, he was sworn in as the President of India, serving till 1992.

            R. Venkataraman’s career as a lawyer was prolific. He was enrolled in the High court of Madras in 1935, after obtaining a degree  in law from the Law College of Madras and later in the Supreme Court.

            It was while he was practicing law that Venkataraman was attracted towards India’s freedom struggle.

            R. Venkataraman’s interest in the law continued even after his involvement with the freedom movement. Especially, he developed an abiding interest in labour laws. Meanwhile, Venkataraman was arrested and jailed for participating in the Quit India movement.

            In 1946, when the transfer of power from British to Indian hands was imminent, R. Venkataraman was included in the panel of lawyers who were given the task of defending Indian nationals in Malaya and Singapore who were charged with collaboration during the Japanese occupation of the two places.

            During the years from 1947 to 1950, Venkataraman also served as secretary of the Madras Provincial Bar Federation. Subsequently, in 1949, he founded the Labour Law Journal that was soon acknowledged as a specialist journal. He edited the journal till 1957.

            R. Venkataraman was an integral part of the trade union movements, in Tamil Nadu, especially of unions for plantation workers, estate staff, dock-workers, railway workers and working journalists.

               R. Venkataraman was born on 4th December, 1910, in Rajamadam, Tamil Nadu. He did his schooling in Government Boys Higher Secondary School, Pattukottai. Later, he did his under graduation in National College, Tiruchirappalli.

               Venkataraman obtained his master’s degree in economics from Loyola College, Madras. He later qualified in law from the Law College, Madras. A lawyer by profession, he had practised law in the Madras High Court, and in the Supreme Court. He was enrolled as a law practitioner in the Madras High Court in the year 1935, and was appointed to the Apex Court in 1951.

               He took part in the Indian independence movement and actively participated in the Quit India agitation. He was jailed by the British government during the period between 1942 and 1944.

               After his release he continued to practise law. In the same year, Venkataraman took up the Organization of the labour section of the Tamil Nadu Provincial Congress Committee.

              He played a crucial role in the parliamentary team that redesigned India’s Provincial parliament.

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               Having been elected to the office of the President of India,  R. Venkataraman was sworn in on July 25th, 1987. He was the eighth President of the Republic of India.

               During his young age, Venkataraman was an activist of the Indian independence movement and participated in the Quit India Movement. He was an integral part of the parliamentary team that re-designed India’s Provincial Parliament during the period between 1950 and 1952. Venkataraman was a very eminent political personality throughout his lifetime.

              He had served as the member of the Constituent Assembly, and as the member of the Lok Sabha. He also served as the Union Finance Minister and Defence Minister. He was elected as the seventh Vice President of India in 1984.

              During his tenure, which concluded on July 25th in 1992, India saw a quick succession of four Prime Ministers – Narasimha Rao, Chandra Shekhar, Rajiv Gandhi, and V.P. Singh.

               Giani Zail Singh was elected to the highest office of the President of India on 15th July, 1982, unanimously and took the oath of office on 25th July, 1982. He succeeded Neelam Sanjiva Reddy as the President of India and held the president-ship for a full term.

               He was known for his lifelong loyalty towards the former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. His presidency was, however, marked by several controversial events like Operation Blue Star and the anti-Sikh riots following the assassination of Indira Gandhi. Indira Gandhi ordered the army and police force to combat Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his armed followers in the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Government troops stormed the complex, and killed the militants who had been demanding Khalistan, an independent country for Sikhs.

               Even though some events like Operation Blue Star and the anti-Sikh riot cloued his tenure, some decisions taken by him won him popularity. He refused to sign the Postal Amendment Bill in 1986, which earned him applause from the civil society.

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