Attavar Balakrishna Shetty (1883–1960) better known as A. B. Shetty was an Indian politician, philanthropist, entrepreneur and the founder of Vijaya Bank.

Biography

Shetty was born in a Tulu-speaking family of landlords to Mulki Kalappa Shetty (Father) and Attavar Unhakke (Mother). He completed his early education in

Mangalore Mangaluru (), formerly called Mangalore ( ), is a major industrial port city in the Indian state of Karnataka and on the west coast of India. It is located between the Laccadive Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bengaluru, the st ...

. Realising the need for dissemination of news and information about world affairs among people in the

South Canara South Canara (South Kannada) was a district of the Madras Presidency of British Raj, located at . It comprised the towns of Kassergode and Udipi and adjacent villages, with the administration at Mangalore city. South Canara was one of the mos ...

district, he started a weekly

Kannada language Kannada () is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, an ...

publication, called "Navayuga", which was edited in its early years by K. K. Shetty and later by K. Honnayya Shetty. This was very popular for more than 40 years. In addition Shetty was also the pioneer behind Canara Printing Press, a printing press in Mangalore. Shetty established Vijaya Bank in 1931 at Bunts Hostel in Mangalore. The bank did well, providing job opportunities for thousands of youths and also providing banking service to

lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2, 2, 3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. F ...

s of people all over the country. Vijaya Bank is today one of the foremost nationalised banks of India. Deeply secular and progressive in outlook, Shetty was interested in the activities of the

Theosophical Society The Theosophical Society is the organizational body of Theosophy, an esoteric new religious movement. It was founded in New York City, U.S.A. in 1875. Among its founders were Helena Blavatsky, a Russian mystic and the principal thinker of the ...

, the

Brahmo Samaj Brahmo Samaj ( ) is the societal component of Brahmoism, which began as a monotheistic reformist movement during the Bengal Renaissance. It was one of the most influential religious movements in India and made a significant contribution to ...

, the

Arya Samaj Arya Samaj () is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. Dayananda Saraswati founded the samaj in the 1870s. Arya Samaj was the first Hindu ...

, the Depressed Classes Mission, etc., all of which were engaged in the uplift of neglected sections of society. He also served as Minister in the

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...

and later in

Madras State Madras State was a state in the Indian Republic, which was in existence during the mid-20th century as a successor to the Madras Presidency of British India. The state came into existence on 26 January 1950 when the Constitution of India was ad ...

, holding various portfolios such as agriculture and veterinary, medical and public health, cooperation, housing and ex-servicemen between the years 1949-1956 until quitting the Ministry on 1 March 1956 following the States Reorganisation Act of 1956. He married Kalyani Shetty. They had four children: two sons and two daughters. He died in 1960 at the age of 77 and is commemorated by the A.B.Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences,

Deralakatte Deralakatte (University town) - is a major educational, healthcare, commercial and residential locality in the south-eastern part of Mangalore City in the Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka state. It is away from the Karnataka-Kerala stat ...

, Mangalore.Mangalorean.Com- Serving Mangaloreans Around The World!

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shetty, A. B. 1883 births 1960 deaths Mangaloreans Karnataka local politicians Indian bankers People from Dakshina Kannada district 20th-century Indian philanthropists Indian founders Madras MLAs 1952–1957 Indian National Congress politicians from Karnataka