Nityanand Kanungo (4 May 1900 – 2 August 1988) was one of India's prominent politicians from the state of Odisha, who held successive high-profile portfolios in Prime Minister

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

's cabinet.

Early Life

Nityanand Kanungo was born in

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 ...

on 4 May 1900 in an aristocratic Zamindar Karan family and was educated at Ravenshaw College and University College (Calcutta). His father was

Dewan ''Dewan'' (also known as ''diwan'', sometimes spelled ''devan'' or ''divan'') designated a powerful government official, minister, or ruler. A ''dewan'' was the head of a state institution of the same name (see Divan). Diwans belonged to the el ...

Basudev Kanungo, and his mother was Padmavati Devi. His sister Sarala Devi was the first Odia woman to join the

Non-cooperation movement Non-cooperation movement may refer to: * Non-cooperation movement (1919–1922), during the Indian independence movement, led by Mahatma Gandhi against British rule * Non-cooperation movement (1971), a movement in East Pakistan * Non-cooperatio ...

in 1921 and the first woman to be elected to the

Odisha Legislative Assembly The Odisha Legislative Assembly is the unicameral state legislature of Odisha state in India. The seat of the Legislative Assembly is at Bhubaneswar, the capital of the state. The Legislative Assembly comprises List of constituencies of Odisha ...

Public Life

He was a member of the

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 ...

and served as a member of the Orissa Legislative Assembly from 1937 to 1939 and again from 1946 to 1952. When Orissa was granted provincial autonomy as per the

Government of India Act 1935 The Government of India Act 1935 (25 & 26 Geo. 5. c. 42) was an Act of Parliament (UK), act passed by the British Parliament that originally received royal assent in August 1935. It was the longest act that the British Parliament ever enact ...

, Kanungo served as the Minister for Revenue and Public Works Departments in the cabinet of Bishwanath Das from 1937 to 1939. He was again appointed a Minister in 1946 and served till 1952, looking after the Home, Law, Industries and Agriculture portfolios. In 1952, Kanungo 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 ...

from the Kendrapara constituency. In September, 1954 he was appointed Union Deputy Minister of Commerce and Industry. From August 1955 in Prime Minister

's cabinet; he was Union Minister of Industries, and in June 1956 was designated Union Minister of Consumer Industries. In 1957, he was again returned to the Lok Sabha and was appointed Union Minister of Commerce. Kanungo was a member of the Indian Delegation to the International Labour Conference in San Francisco (1948) and was the Leader of the Delegation to the Conference of the International Rice Commission held in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

in 1952. In the

1962 Indian general election General elections were held in India between 19 and 25 February 1962 to elect members of the 3rd Lok Sabha, third Lok Sabha. Unlike the previous two elections, each constituency elected a single member. Jawaharlal Nehru won another landslide v ...

, Kanungo was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Cuttack constituency. He was Union Minister for Commerce and Industries, in the Nehru cabinet, and after the bifurcation of that portfolio, Union Minister, in turn, for Commerce and later for Industry. He finished up as Union Minister for Civil Aviation. Kanungo served as the

Governor of Gujarat The governor of Gujarat is the nominal head of the Indian state of Gujarat. The governor is appointed by the president of India and resides in Raj Bhavan, Gandhinagar, Raj Bhavan in Gandhinagar. Acharya Devvrat took charge as the 24th governo ...

from 1 August 1965 to 6 December 1967. He was the Governor of Bihar from 7 December 1967 to 20 January 1971.

References

External links

Official Biographical Sketch in Lok Sabha Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanungo, Nityanand 1900 births 1988 deaths People from Cuttack India MPs 1952–1957 India MPs 1957–1962 India MPs 1962–1967 Governors of Bihar Governors of Gujarat Odisha MLAs 1937–1945 Odisha MLAs 1946–1952 Lok Sabha members from Odisha People from Kendrapara district Commerce and industry ministers of India Indian National Congress politicians from Odisha

Early Life

Public Life

See also

References

External links