Chidambaram Subramaniam (commonly known as CS) (30 January 1910 – 7 November 2000), was an Indian politician and independence activist. He served as

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

and

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

in the union cabinet. He later served as the

Governor of Maharashtra The governor of Maharashtra is the ceremonial head of the state of Maharashtra. The Constitution of India confers the executive powers of the state to the governor, however the de facto executive powers lie with the Council of Ministers. Bhagat ...

. As the Minister for Food and Agriculture, he ushered the Indian Green Revolution, an era of self-sufficiency in food production along with M. S. Swaminathan, B. Sivaraman and Norman E. Borlaug. He was awarded

Bharat Ratna The Bharat Ratna (; ''Jewel of India'') is the highest civilian award of the Republic of India. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conferred in recognition of "exceptional service/performance of the highest order", without distinctio ...

, Indian's highest civilian award, in 1998, for his role in ushering Green Revolution.

Early life and education

Subramaniam was born in Senguttaipalayam a village near

Pollachi Pollachi is a town and a taluk headquarters in Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu state, India. Located about to the south of Coimbatore, it is the second largest town in the district after Coimbatore. Pollachi is a popular Marketplace for j ...

Coimbatore district Coimbatore district is one of the 38 districts in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. Coimbatore is the administrative headquarters of the district. It is one of the most industrialized districts and a major textile, industrial, commercial, educ ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil languag ...

. Subramaniam completed his early education in Pollachi before moving to Chennai where he did his

B.Sc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in Physics at the

Presidency College, Chennai Presidency College is an art, commerce, and science college in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. On 16 October 1840, this school was established as the Madras Preparatory School before being repurposed as a high school, and then a gra ...

(affiliated to the

University of Madras The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigious universities in India, incorporated by an a ...

). Later he graduated with degree in law from Madras Law college,

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of ...

(then affiliated to the same university). During his college days, he started ''Vanamalar Sangam'' and published a magazine called ''Pithan'' from Gobichettipalayam along with Periyasaamy Thooran,

K. M. Ramasami Gounder K is the eleventh letter of the Latin alphabet. K may also refer to: General uses * K (programming language), an array processing language developed by Arthur Whitney and commercialized by Kx Systems * K (cider), a British draft cider manufact ...

, O. V. Alagesan and Justice Palanisami. His inspiration was his uncle Swami Chidbhavananda.

Political career

Early years

Subramaniam was an active member 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 di ...

against the British during his college days. He was imprisoned during the

Quit India Movement The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule ...

in 1942. He was later elected to the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected ...

and had a hand in the framing of the

Constitution of India The Constitution of India (IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ...

. He was a minister of Education, Law and Finance for

Madras State Madras State was a state of India during the mid-20th century. At the time of its formation in 1950, it included the whole of present-day Tamil Nadu (except Kanyakumari district), Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema, the Malabar region of North and ...

from 1952 to 1962 under chief ministers

Rajaji Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (10 December 1878 – 25 December 1972), popularly known as Rajaji or C.R., also known as Mootharignar Rajaji (Rajaji'', the Scholar Emeritus''), was an Indian statesman, writer, lawyer, and independence activis ...

and

K. Kamaraj Kumaraswami Kamaraj (15 July 1903 – 2 October 1975, hinduonnet.com. 15–28 September 2001), popularly known as Kamarajar was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the Chief Minister of Madras State (Tamil Nadu) ...

. He was the First Leader of the House in the Madras Legislative Assembly for the entire duration. He was elected to the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-pas ...

in 1962 and was the Minister for Steel and Mines. Subsequently, he served as the Minister for Food and Agriculture. He also worked as the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission from 2 May 1971 to 22 July 1972.

Green Revolution

Along with M. S. Swaminathan and

B. Sivaraman Balaram Sivaraman was an Indian civil servant, writer and the tenth Cabinet Secretary of India. He assumed office on 1 January 1969 and held the position until 30 November 1970. The Government of India awarded him Padma Vibhushan, the second highe ...

, Subramaniam was the architect of India's modern agricultural development policy, after the success of his programme which led to a record production of wheat in 1972 termed as the Indian Green Revolution. As Minister for Food and Agriculture, he introduced high-yielding varieties of seeds and more intensive application of fertilizers which paved the way for increased output of cereals and attainment of self-sufficiency in food-grains in the country. About his contribution, Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, writes: He appointed M. S. Swaminathan, who played a major role in green revolution and

Verghese Kurien Verghese Kurien (26 November 1921 - 9 September 2012), known as the "Father of the White Revolution" in India, was a social entrepreneur whose "billion-litre idea", Operation Flood, made dairy farming India's largest self-sustaining industry a ...

as the chairman of

National Dairy Development Board The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) is a statutory body set up by an Act of the Parliament of India. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying of the Government of India. The main office is in An ...

when he ushered the Indian White Revolution. Kurien says, ''that the key role played by Subramaniam in the whole thing (Operation Flood) is hardly mentioned.'' He founded the National Agro Foundation, Chennai and Bharathidasan Institute of Management, Tiruchirappalli.

Finance ministry and emergency

When the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British ...

split in 1969, he became the interim president of Congress (I) started by Indira Gandhi. Later, he was appointed

in the union cabinet by Indira Gandhi. He advised her to devalue

Indian rupee The Indian rupee (symbol: ₹; code: INR) is the official currency in the republic of India. The rupee is subdivided into 100 '' paise'' (singular: ''paisa''), though as of 2022, coins of denomination of 1 rupee are the lowest value in use wher ...

and was the

finance minister A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

during the

emergency An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...

in 1976. After the emergency, he parted ways with Indira and joined the breakaway Congress faction led by Devraj Urs and

Kasu Brahmananda Reddy Kasu Brahmananda Reddy (28 July 1909 – 20 May 1994) was the Chief Minister of United Andhra Pradesh, India, from 29 February 1964 to 30 September 1971. On 3 June 1977, he was elected president of the Indian National Congress. Early life Kasu ...

Later years

He was appointed the union

Charan Singh Chaudhary Charan Singh (23 December 1902 – 29 May 1987) served as the 5th Prime Minister of India between 28 July 1979 to 14 January 1980. Historians and people alike frequently refer to him as the 'champion of India's peasants.' Charan Si ...

in 1979. He became the

in 1990. He resigned after his criticism of the style of functioning of the then Indian Prime Minister

P. V. Narasimha Rao Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao (28 June 1921 – 23 December 2004) was an Indian lawyer, statesman and politician who served as the 9th prime minister of India from 1991 to 1996. He is known for introducing various liberal reforms to Indi ...

. Subramaniam died on 7 November 2000 at the age of 90 in

. At his death, he was the last surviving cabinet minister who had served under

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 ...

, as well as the last surviving cabinet minister from the Shastri and Nanda cabinets.

Awards

, India's highest civilian honor, 1998 * Y. B. Chavan National Integration Award * U Thant peace award, 1996 * Norman Borlaug award, 1996 * Anuvrat award, 1988

Publications

* ''The New Strategy in Indian Agriculture'' * ''Some Countries which I visited Round The World'' * ''The India of My Dreams''

Legacy

Chidambaram Subramaniam 2010 stamp of India

A commemorative coin in his honour, was released by the Government of India in August 2010. A commemorative postage stamp was also released in his honour in 2010. Shri Chidambaram Subramaniam Award - For Excellence in Character has been instituted by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavans which is awarded to its students annually.

References

External links

About us – National Agro Foundation
* Genesis – Bharathidasan Institute of Management {{DEFAULTSORT:Subramaniam, Chidambaram Recipients of the Bharat Ratna 1910 births 2000 deaths Indian National Congress politicians from Tamil Nadu Governors of Maharashtra Presidency College, Chennai alumni University of Madras alumni Tamil Nadu ministers Members of the Constituent Assembly of India Indian independence activists from Tamil Nadu India MPs 1962–1967 Lok Sabha members from Tamil Nadu India MPs 1971–1977 People from Coimbatore district India MPs 1977–1979 People from Krishnagiri district People from Dindigul district Finance Ministers of India Defence Ministers of India Agriculture Ministers of India Ministers_for_Corporate_Affairs Commerce and Industry Ministers of India Union Ministers from Tamil Nadu Indian National Congress (U) politicians Madras MLAs 1952–1957