Mohan Dharia (14 February 1925 - 14 October 2013) was a Union minister, a lawyer and social worker. During his last days he stayed in

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

. Dharia was an environmentalist and ran a non-government organisation Vanarai. He was elected to the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

twice from

Lok Sabha constituency, first in 1971 as an

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

(INC) member and became a Minister of State, and later in 1977 as a

Bharatiya Lok Dal Bharatiya Lok Dal () was a political party in India. The BLD or simply BL was formed at the end of 1974 through the fusion of seven parties opposed to the rule of Indira Gandhi, including the Swatantra Party, the Samyukta Socialist Party, the ...

member, and joined the Morarji Desai Ministry as Union Minister of Commerce. Prior to it, he remained member of the

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

twice from INC, first 1964-1970 and then 1970- 1971 He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian honour in 2005, by

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

for his contribution in social work.

Early life and education

Born in at village Nate, then Kolaba district, present Mahad

Taluka A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administrative ...

Raigad district Raigad district (), previously Colaba fort, Colaba district, is a district in the Konkan division of Maharashtra, India. The headquarters of the district is Alibag. Other major cities in the district are Panvel, Karjat, Navi Mumbai, Khopoli, Sh ...

, to Manikchand Dharia, he did his schooling from Konkan Education Society, Mahad. Later he joined Fergusson College Pune to become a surgeon, but abandoned his studies to join the independence movement in 1942. Thereafter he studied law at ILS Law College, Pune University. vanaraitrust]

Career

He started his career as an advocate at the

Bombay High Court The High Court of Bombay is the High courts of India, high court of the States and union territories of India, states of Maharashtra and Goa in India, and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is seated primarily ...

and in time started his political career. He was previously associated with the Praja Socialist Party and also participated in National Struggle. He was general secretary of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee 1962—67 and member of

All India Congress Committee The All India Congress Committee (AICC) is the presidium or the central decision-making assembly of the Indian National Congress. It is composed of members elected from States and union territories of India, state-level Pradesh Congress Commit ...

1962—75. A highlight of Dharia's political career was his staunch opposition to the Thirty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution of India, introduced in 1975 by Prime Minister

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

. He called it 'a surrender of parliamentary democracy to the coming dictatorship'. His opposition to the imposition of a state of

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 June 1975 led to his detention by the government with other dissenting leaders such as

Morarji Desai Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (29 February 1896 – 10 April 1995) was an Indian politician and Indian independence activist, independence activist who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India between 1977 and 1979 leading th ...

, Chandra Shekhar and others. He quit Congress after the emergency after 1975. He held various positions in Public life: * Member, Pune Municipal Corporation, 1957–60, * Chairman of its Transport Undertaking, 1957–58; * Elected to

in 1964 and 1970; * Member, Fifth Lok Sabha, 1971—77 from

* Minister of State for Planning, May 1971 to October, 1974, * Minister of State for Works & Housing, October 1974 to March 1975; * Member, Sixth Lok Sabha, 1977-1980 from Pune. * Minister of Commerce, Civil Supplies and Co-operation 1977 -1979; * Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Dec 90 - June 91

Awards

* Padma Vibhushan : Highest Padma Award, * D.Lit, * Indira Priyadarshini Vrikshamitra Awards, * Yashwantrao Chavan Award for Excellence, * Rajiv Gandhi Paryavaran Ratna Award, * Pune’s Pride Award, * Jeevan Gaurav Award, * Development Jewel Award, *26th Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dharia, Mohan 1925 births 2013 deaths People from Raigad district Politicians from Pune India MPs 1971–1977 India MPs 1977–1979 Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in social work Desai administration Members of the Cabinet of India Union ministers of state of India Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra Indian National Congress politicians from Maharashtra Indian environmentalists Indian independence activists from Maharashtra Savitribai Phule Pune University alumni Lok Sabha members from Maharashtra Indian people imprisoned during the Emergency (India) Bharatiya Lok Dal politicians Social workers from Maharashtra Commerce and industry ministers of India Indian National Congress (U) politicians Janata Party politicians