Balasaheb Desai (born as Daulatrao Shripatrao Desai on 10 March 1910 in Village Vihe, Tal Patan,

Satara district Satara district (Marathi pronunciation: aːt̪aɾaː is a district of Maharashtra state in western India with an area of and a population of 3,003,741 of which 14.17% were urban (). Satara is the capital of the district and other major towns ...

) was a leading politician and social worker from Maharashtra, India and held important positions in the Maharashtra State Government as home minister, education minister, and cultural minister during the initial formation of the Maharashtra state. He was instrumental in establishing Shivaji University in

Kolhapur Kolhapur () is a city on the banks of the Panchganga River in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarter of the Kolhapur district. In, around 2 C.E. Kolapur's name was 'Kuntal'. Kolhapur is k ...

in 1962.

Career

Initially Desai started his law practice in

Patan Patan may refer to several places in Afghanistan, India and Nepal: Afghanistan *Patan, Afghanistan India * Patan district, in the state of Gujarat * Patan, Gujarat, the main city of the eponymous district * Patan was the ancient capital of Gujara ...

, Karad,

. In 1940 he campaigned for election to the District Local Board and was elected president. In 1952 he was elected as the

Member of the Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...

(MLA) from

and was re-elected in 1957. In the same year he became a state cabinet minister. He was the main minister in the bilingual state government of

Bombay state Bombay State was a large Indian state created at the time of India's Independence, with other regions being added to it in the succeeding years. Bombay Presidency (roughly equating to the present-day Indian state of Maharashtra, excluding S ...

as well as Maharashtra's government. He played a leading role in the

Samyukta Maharashtra Movement Samyukta Maharashtra Movement ( mr, संयुक्त महाराष्ट्र चळवळ), commonly known as the Samiti, was an organisation in India that advocated for a separate Marathi-speaking state in Western India and Centr ...

and dealt firmly with any outbreaks of violence during their activities in Bombay. In 1960, Desai was Educational Minister of Maharashtra State. For children of the poor, those whose incomes were not more than Rs.1200/ per annum, he insured that they received an education through Economically Backward Classes (E.B.C.) facilities. In 1962 he became agriculture minister and in the same year he was asked to take on the responsibility of being the home minister. In the history of Maharashtra government, Desai is seen as one of strongest home ministers to date. He took steps to make the Home and Police Department strong and reliable. He handled many critical situations during his term as home minister including the outbreak of violence by members of the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement in Bombay (now Mumbai). On 11 Dec 1967 a disastrous earthquake took place in Patan. His tireless work to help the people of Maharashtra recover from the disaster was widely appreciated. He came to be known as a true leader of the poor. Journalist Pralhad Keshav Atre called him ''Loknete''. He was elected MLA for his constituency three times and secured a place in the cabinet of the Maharashtra government. He was Speaker of Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha from 4 July 1977 to 14 March 1978. In 1978–79 he was president of

Maharashtra Assembly The Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha or the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the legislature of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is situated in the Nariman Point area of South Mumbai in the capital Mumbai. Presently, 288 memb ...

Cooperative movement

Desai established a sugar factory called ''Loknete Balasaheb Desai Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana'' in Patan. This sugar mill was started as a

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-contro ...

to provide stability and the opportunity for growth for farmers in the region. Desai worked closely with leading cooperative leaders in Maharashtra such as: Yashwantrao Chavan, Vasantdada Patil,

Gulabrao Patil Gulabrao Raghunathrao Patil (Marathi: गुलाबराव रघुनाथराव पाटील) (16 September 1921 – 21 January 1989) was a Renowned Co-operative Leader, Member of Parliament (MP)-Rajya Sabha India, Maharashtra Sta ...

among others.

Shivaji University, Kolhapur

Desai was an educational minister in the first cabinet of Maharashtra government in 1960. He was instrumental in establishing Shivaji University in Kolhapur in 1962. He also established Balasaheb Desai College of Arts and Science in 1969 at Patan.

References

External links

स्व.लोकनेते बाळासाहेब देसाई.
(in Marathi)
Balasaheb Desai College

India Who's Who 1969
{{DEFAULTSORT:Desai, Balasaheb 1910 births 1983 deaths Bombay State politicians Maharashtra MLAs 1960–1962 Maharashtra MLAs 1972–1978 Marathi politicians People from Kolhapur People from Maharashtra Shivaji University Speakers of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Bombay State MLAs 1957–1960 Bombay State MLAs 1952–1957