Omeo Kumar Das (21 May 1895 – 23 January 1975), popularly addressed as Lok Nayak, was an Indian social worker,

Gandhian The followers of Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest figure of the Indian independence movement, are called Gandhians. Gandhi's legacy includes a wide range of ideas ranging from his dream of ideal India (or ''Rama Rajya)'', economics, environmentalism, ...

, educationist, writer and a former minister at the

Government of Assam The Government of Assam is the subnational government of Assam, a state of India. It consists of the Governor appointed by the President of India as the head of the state, currently Jagdish Mukhi. The head of government is the Chief Minister, ...

. He held various ministerial portfolios such as Education, Labour and Food and Civil Supplies, during various periods, in the state of

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

. He translated ''

The Story of My Experiments with Truth ''The Story of My Experiments with Truth'' ( gu, Satya Na Prayogo athva Atmakatha, ) is the autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi, covering his life from early childhood through to 1921. It was written in weekly installments and published in his jo ...

'', the autobiography of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

, into

Assamese language Assamese (), also Asamiya ( ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken mainly in the north-east Indian state of Assam, where it is an official language, and it serves as a '' lingua franca'' of the wider region. The easternmost Indo-Iranian langua ...

and contributed to the implementation of ''Tea Plantation Worker’s Provident Fund'' in the state. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

, in 1963, for his contributions to society.

India Post India Post is a government-operated postal system in India, part of the Department of Post under the Ministry of Communications. Generally known as the Post Office, it is the most widely distributed postal system in the world. Warren Hastings ...

honoured Das by issuing a commemorative stamp on him on 15 May 1998.

Early life

Das was born on 5 May 1895 at

Nagaon district Nagaon is an administrative district in the Indian state of Assam. At the time of the 2011 census it was the most populous district in Assam, before Hojai district was split from it in 2016. History Batadrowa gave birth to the Vaishnavite ...

in the Northeast Indian state of

and his schooling was at Tezpur High School,

Tezpur Tezpur () is a city and urban agglomeration in Sonitpur district, Assam state, India. Tezpur is located on the banks of the river Brahmaputra, northeast of Guwahati, and is the largest of the north bank cities with a population exceeding 100, ...

. He did his higher education at

Cotton College, Guwahati Cotton University (formerly known as ''Cotton College'') is a public state university located in Guwahati, Assam, India. It was established in 2017 by the provisions of an Act from the Assam Legislative Assembly which merged Cotton College Sta ...

and City College, Calcutta during which time he was reported to have been attracted to the activities of

Indian independence activists The Indian independence movement consisted of efforts by individuals and organizations from a wide spectrum of society to obtain political independence from the British, French and Portuguese rule through the use of a many methods. This is a l ...

such as

Gopal Krishna Gokhale Gopal Krishna Gokhale ( �ɡoːpaːl ˈkrɪʂɳə ˈɡoːkʰleː9 May 1866 – 19 February 1915) was an Indian 'moderate' political leader and a social reformer during the Indian independence movement. Gokhale was a senior leader of the India ...

and Bal Gangadhar Tilak and started getting involved in student politics.

Political life

He was one of the leaders of the

Civil disobedience movement The Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March and the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India led by Mahatma Gandhi. The twenty-four day march lasted from 12 March to 6 April 1930 as a ...

of 1930 in Assam and was jailed many times during the freedom struggle. He successfully contested the Assam legislative Assembly and the Constituent Assembly elections of 1937 and 1945 respectively and, after the Indian independence, he represented

Dhekiajuli Dhekiajuli is a town and a municipal board in Sonitpur district in the state of Assam, India. Geography Dhekiajuli is located at . It has an average elevation of 100 metres (328 ft). There are several tea estates in its vicinity. Som ...

Assembly constituency for three consecutive terms, 1951, '57 and '62. During these periods, he served as the minister in various portfolios. It was during his tenure as the Labour minister, the ''Worker's Provident Fund'' for the labourers of the tea plantations was instituted, an initiative reported to be among first such instances in Asia. As the minister of Education, his contributions were noted in the implementation of basic education scheme in Assam. He also served as the minister of Food and Civil Supplies for a period of time.

Literary work

Das is credited with the publication of several books, including ''Mor Satya Aneshwanar Kahini'', an

translation of ''

'', the autobiography of

. ''Gandhijir Jiboni'', ''Mahatma Gandhik Aami Kidore Bujilu'' and ''Asomot Mahatma'' are some of his other works. He was involved with the activities of several social and Gandhian organisations such as

Harijan Sevak Sangh Harijan Sevak Sangh is a non-profit organisation founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1932 to eradicate untouchability in India, working for Harijan or Dalit people and upliftment of Depressed Class of India. It is headquartered at Kingsway Camp in De ...

, Bharatiya Adim Jati Sevak Sangha, Bharat Sevek Samaj, Gandhi Smarak Nidhi, Kasturba Smarak Nidhi and Assam Seva Samiti and was a part of their social activities like campaign against substance abuse and rehabilitation of patients afflicted with leprosy and tuberculosis.

Awards and honours

The Government of India included him in the 1993 Republic Day honours list for the civilian award of the

. He died on 23 January 1975, aged 81, survived by his wife, Pushpalata Das, renowned freedom activist and parliamentarian, and their daughter. ''

Omeo Kumar Das Institute of Social Change and Development Omeo Kumar Das Institute of Social Change and Development is an autonomous Institute situated in Guwahati, Assam. It was established in 1989 under the joint initiative of Government of Assam and Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), ...

'' (OKD),

Guwahati Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...

, an autonomous institution funded by the

Indian Council of Social Science Research The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) is the national body overseeing research in the social sciences in India. It was established in New Delhi in 1969. Council The Council is currently chaired by Bhushan Patwardhan. Current ...

(ICSSR), was named after Das, on his birth centenary in 1995.

issued a commemorative postage stamp on him in 1998. A college at

has been named, ''Lokonayak Omeo Kumar Das College'', in his honour.

References

External links