Dharma Vira OBE, ICS (20 January 1906 – 16 September 2000) was an Indian civil servant and politician who served as the governor of

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land a ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

and

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

. Vira also served as a Cabinet Secretary of the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

Early life

Dharma Vira was born in Bijnor on 20 January 1906, the son of Raja Jwala Prasad and Bhagyati Devi. He studied at

Muir Central College Muir Central College in Allahabad in northern India was a college of higher education founded by William Muir in 1872. It had a separate existence to 1921, when as a result of the Allahabad University Act it was merged into Allahabad University. ...

in Allahabad, before going to London to read for the ICS examinations at the School of Oriental Studies (now the

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury a ...

) between 1929 and 1930. He passed the examinations in October 1930, and returned to India in November. He married Dayavati Ganga Ram in 1932. He was a resident magistrate in Uttar Pradesh, but from 1941 became more involved in central Indian government affairs.

Career

He became Deputy Chief Controller of Imports during the Second World War, and was Textile Commissioner for India in 1945. He was appointed an OBE in the

1946 New Year Honours The 1946 New Year Honours were appointments by many of the Commonwealth Realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and to celebrate the passing of 1945 and the beginni ...

.London Gazette, 1 January 1946
/ref> After

Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

, he worked closely with

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

, and was Joint Secretary to the Indian Cabinet in 1947. He then became Principal Private Secretary to Jawaharlal Nehru, 1950–51, and Commercial Adviser to the Indian High Commissioner in London, 1951–3. In 1954, he was appointed Ambassador to

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, in which capacity he served until 1956. On his return to India he served as Secretary to the Ministry of Rehabilitation until 1962 and was Secretary to the Ministry of Works, Housing and Supply in 1962. From 1963 to 1964 he was Chief Commissioner of Delhi and then from 1964 to 1966 Cabinet Secretary and Secretary to Union Council of Ministers and became Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. He served as Governor of: *

and

, 1966-67 *

1967-69 *

(Mysore),1969–72 and was Chairman of the National Police Commission, 1977–83. Dharam Vira served as the President of the Bharat Scouts and Guides from November 1973 to September 1976.

Awards

He was awarded the

Padma Vibhushan The Padma Vibhushan ("Lotus Decoration") is the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service". All persons without ...

, the second-highest Indian civilian award, by the

in 1999. He died on 16 September 2000.

References

External links

*http://www.bsgindia.org/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Vira, Dharma Indian civil servants Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in civil service People from Patiala University of Allahabad alumni Governors of Karnataka Governors of Haryana Governors of Punjab, India Governors of West Bengal Scouting and Guiding in India Indian Officers of the Order of the British Empire Indian Civil Service (British India) officers 1906 births 2000 deaths Cabinet Secretaries of India