Bishwanath Das (8 March 1889 – 2 June 1984) né (maiden name) Biswanath Dash was a

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. He was the prime minister of

Orissa Province Orissa Province was a province of British India created in April 1936 by the partitioning of the Bihar and Orissa Province and adding parts of Madras Presidency and Central Provinces. Its territory corresponds with the present-day state of Odi ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

1937–1939, the

governor of Uttar Pradesh The governor of Uttar Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Uttara Pradēśa kē Rājyapāla'') is the constitutional head of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The governor is appointed by the president of India. The post is preceded by the governor of U ...

1962–1967 and later the

chief minister of Odisha The chief minister of Odisha, an Indian state, is the head of the Government of Odisha. As per the Constitution of India, the governor is the state's ''de jure'' head, but '' de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minister. Follow ...

1971–1972.

Early life

He was born on 8 March 1889 in a

Kanyakubja Brahmin Kanyakubja Brahmins are an endogamous Brahmin community mainly found in northern India. They are classified as one of the Pancha Gauda Brahmin communities. Kanyakubja Brahmins emerged as the highest ranking subcaste of Brahmins and are known ...

family at Belgan village in

Ganjam district Ganjam is a district in the Indian state of Odisha. Ganjam's total area is 8,206 km² (3,168 mi²). The district headquarters is Chhatrapur. Ganjam is divided into three sub-divisions: Chhatrapur, Berhampur, and Bhanjanagar. As of ...

of the erstwhile

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 ...

, which is in the state of Odisha. He graduated from

Ravenshaw College Ravenshaw University, formerly known as Ravenshaw College, is a co-educational state university situated in Cuttack, Odisha on the eastern coast of India. Founded as Ravenshaw College in 1868, the institution became a university in 2006. The u ...

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka in Odia language, Odia ), is the former capital, deputy capital and the 2nd largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. It is also the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised f ...

. Married at an early age his only child Dr. Trinath Dash also followed on the steps of philanthropic legal practice for the poor.

Political career

Bishwanath Das supported the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

from both Odisha and Uttar Pradesh. He was a member of the legislative council of

Madras Province 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 in ...

from 1921 to 1930. He was instrumental in the creation of a separate state for the Odia-speaking people. After the separation of Orissa/Odisha from

Bihar and Orissa Province Bihar and Orissa was a province of British India, which included the present-day Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, and parts of Odisha. The territories were conquered by the British in the 18th and 19th centuries, and were governed by the then ...

on 1 April 1936, he became its

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

(

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

) on 19 July 1937. He became a member of the

Constituent Assembly of India Constituent Assembly of India was partly elected and partly nominated body to frame the Constitution of India. It was elected by the Provincial assemblies of British India following the Provincial Assembly elections held in 1946 and nominated ...

in 1946 representing Orissa. He served as the

from 16 April 1962 to 30 April 1967. In 1966, he was made the president of

Servants of the People Society Servants of the People Society (SOPS) (Hindi (ISO) : Lōka Sēvaka Maṇḍala ) is a non-profit social service organization founded by Lala Lajpat Rai, a prominent leader in the Indian Independence movement, in 1921 in Lahore. The society is d ...

(Lok Sevak Mandal founded by

Lala Lajpat Rai Lala Lajpat Rai (28 January 1865 — 17 November 1928) was an Indian revolutionary, politician, and author, popularly known as ''Punjab Kesari (Lion of Punjab).'' He was one of the three members of the Lal Bal Pal trio. He died of severe tra ...

). After the Odisha

Vidhan Sabha The State Legislative Assembly, also known as the Vidhan Sabha or the Saasana Sabha, is a legislative body in each of the states and certain union territories of India. Members of the legislative assembly are often directly elected to serve fiv ...

election in 1971, the Utkal Congress, the

Swatantra Party The Swatantra Party was an Indian classical liberal political party that existed from 1959 to 1974. It was founded by C. Rajagopalachari in reaction to what he felt was the Jawaharlal Nehru-dominated Indian National Congress's increasingly so ...

and the

Jharkhand Party The Jharkhand Party (JKP) is one of the oldest political parties in India. formed on 5 March 1949 by ''Marang Gomke'' Jaipal Singh Munda in Ranchi. The party grew out of the demand for a separate Jharkhand state. The Jharkhand Party participa ...

formed a

United Front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political and/ ...

and he became the

chief minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

of the United Front government, in

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

. He was in office from 3 April 1971 to 14 June 1972. He set up multiple trusts for providing free legal support, food and vedantic learning institutions for the poor in Orissa and Uttar Pradesh from his lifetime earnings and salary. The institutions include Veda Bhavan at Puri.

References

External links

A short biography
by Gurukalyan Mahapatra in the Orissa Review, January 2006.

Governor of Uttar Pradesh.
Allahabad High Court
By Justice Shiva Nath Katju. {{DEFAULTSORT:Das, Bishwanath 1889 births 1984 deaths Chief ministers of Odisha Members of the Constituent Assembly of India Ravenshaw University alumni University of Calcutta alumni Odisha MLAs 1971–1973 Governors of Uttar Pradesh Rajya Sabha members from Odisha People from Ganjam district