- Pratap Singh Kairon
Pratap Singh Kairon (1901–1965) was the Chief Minister of the Punjab province (then comprising Punjab,
Haryana andHimachal Pradesh ), and is widely acknowledged to be the architect of post-Independence Punjab Province(or Punjab, Haryana and Himachal as of today). Moreover, he was anIndian independence movement leader. He was jailed twice by theBritish Empire , once for five years for organising protests against British rule. His political influence and views are still considered to dominate Punjabi politics, sometimes called the "father of modern Punjabi politics".Early life
Pratap was born on
October 1 ,1901 , into a DhillonJat family of the village ofKairon in the Amritsar district, province of Punjab during theBritish Raj . His father, Nihal Singh Kairon, was a pioneer in initiating women's education in the province. Pratap studied at the Khalsa College, Amritsar and then went to the U.S., where he supported himself with work on farms and factories. He did his Masters in political science from theUniversity of Michigan .He also did his Masters in Economics from University of Berkley California before going to Michigan. He was influenced by farming methods practised in the U.S.A and hoped to replicate the same inIndia later.Political career
Entry into politics and contribution to
Indian independence movement Kairon returned to India in 1929. On
April 13 ,1932 he started an English weekly paper "The New Era" in Amritsar. He joined politics and the newspaper eventually shut down. He was at first, a member of theShiromani Akali Dal and later of theIndian National Congress . He was jailed in 1932 for five years for participating in the "Civil disobedience ". He entered the Punjab Legislative Assembly as an Akali nominee in 1937, defeating the Congress candidate, Baba Gurdit Singh of Sarhali.From 1941 to 1946, he was the general secretary of the Punjab Provincial Congress Committee. He was jailed again in the 1942 "
Quit India Movement " and was elected to the Constituent Assembly in 1946.In power
After Independence in 1947, Pratap Singh Kairon held various offices in the elected state government including Rehabilitation Minister, Development Minister(1947–1949) and Chief Minister(1952–1964).
Minister for Rehabilition
As Minister for Rehabilitation in the days immediately after the Partition, Kairon ended the chaos and confusion and handled the tough task of resettlement of millions of refugees who had migrated from
West Punjab . Over three million people were re-established in East Punjab in new homes and often in new professions, in a very short period of time.Chief Minister
Pratap Singh Kairon was a man of vision. He laid the base on which Punjab prospered. In his role in implementing land reforms, the late leader established the
Punjab Agricultural University , which played a key role in theGreen Revolution . He also placed Punjab on the industrial map of the country. He was behind the creation of the city ofChandigarh and the industrial township ofFaridabad (in present-day Haryana). Kairon made primary and middle school education free and compulsory. He opened three engineering colleges and a polytechnic in each district. He was responsible for establishing much of the state's basic infrastructure in terms of irrigation, electrification and roads. Punjab was the first state in theIndian Union to have all its villages electrified.He ushered huge prosperity for Punjab. His successors have largely frittered away the development he brought about.
Demise
In 1964, following the publication of the report of the commission of enquiry which had exonerated him of the bulk of the allegations made against him by his political adversaries, Partap Singh Kairon resigned from his position as chief minister of the Punjab. On
February 6 ,1965 , he was assassinated by Sucha Singh, in his car on the main highway (the G.T. Road) fromDelhi to Amritsar. Sucha Singh was later hanged.ee also
*
Punjab's political families
*Kairon References
* [http://www.allaboutsikhs.com/1900/famous-sikhs-partap-singh-kairon.html Pratap Singh Kairon]
* [http://www.sikh-history.com/sikhhist/personalities/pqairon.html Biography of the legendary Sikh leader]
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